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Pine Breeze Dandy Press Release
For Immediate Release
September 02, 2003
Five public art works under contract for better Jacksonville projects
JACKSONVILLE, FL Work is underway on five public art projects for the City of Jacksonville’s Art in Public Places Program. These new works will be located at the Sports and Entertainment Complex, the Main Library, the San Marco Branch Library and the Equestrian Center. Commissioned pieces vary from large outdoor sculptures to interior paintings.
Earlier this year, Jacksonville’s Art in Public Places Commission selected the artists from a field of more than 300 artists. The artists were invited to submit proposals and have recently been contracted to complete the site specific projects. Applications were received from all parts of the country and included several international submissions. The Art Selection Committees were made up of members of the general public, arts professionals, architects and staff from the selected sites. By ordinance, each selection committee for major projects has nine members.
Sports and Entertainment Complex
Jaume Plensa of Barcelona, Spain, is currently fabricating a large-scale, outdoor work for the new Sports and Entertainment Plaza. The piece entitled “Talking Continents,” is comprised of six fiberglass figures. Each figure kneels on a platform supported by a steel reinforced pole with a circular wooden bench fixed around the pole at ground level for seating purposes. The poles are 30 feet high and the seated figures measure 6 feet. Figures are positioned at key points around the plaza within sight of each other and are lit from the inside by a kinetic LED light programmed to regularly change color. A central device will control and order the changing of the lights in the figures. From Plensa’s statement on the project: “The Sports Complex is a meeting place for people.
‘Talking Continents’ is based on a desire to unite and complement the complex group of elements that make up the area. The seated figures are talking in colors. Their silent conversation is directed to us as a universal language of rhythms and colors and serve as a way to invite people to enjoy the area”. “Talking Continents” is slated for completion at the end of 2003.
Main Library – Exterior
Washington D.C., artist Larry Kirkland is creating a large-scale sculpture for the exterior facade of the new Main Library. The sculpture, cast in bronze, will represent an owl, drawing upon classical motifs as a symbol of wisdom. The owl will be standing on a stack of gold books and above its head will hang a gilded key. The artwork will weigh just under five tons and will stand 25 feet tall. Its placement in a corner alcove of the building will allow it to been seen from both Laura and Monroe Streets. Kirkland comments, “It is my purpose for the exterior artwork to clearly signify that this place is a library. It is the place for the pursuit of information, knowledge and wisdom. The design for the Jacksonville Main Library continues the city’s rich tradition of civic buildings which speak in a version of the classical buildings adapted to the particulars of local climate and culture. It presents a distinctive, iconic civic appearance that renders the library readily identifiable as a welcoming and ennobling place.” Kirkland’s project for the Main Library is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2004.
Main Library – Interior
Painter Kathryn Freeman of Chevy Chase, Md. will create two paintings, each 18 feet by 36 feet, for the Grand Staircase of Jacksonville’s Main Library. Freeman has spent a great deal of time in Jacksonville interviewing local historians and community leaders. Additionally, she photographed architecture and important sites in research for the paintings which incorporate both literary and local historical themes. Jacksonville children were involved in the research as Freeman requested that school students write to her regarding their favorite books, characters and authors. She received more than 1,000 responses. From the artist’s statement: “One wall will portray the symbolic idea of a library using architectural forms from historic Jacksonville landmarks. On each level, the architecture will open up to another landscape of significance to Jacksonville. The composition will be inhabited by figures, which represent a cross-section of library users as well as famous authors with close ties to Jacksonville. There will also be references to Jacksonville history and inclusion of characters from children’s classics chosen by Duval County students. The allegory will be that of how reading elevates the mind.” The paintings for the Main Library are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2004.
Equestrian Center
Michael Stutz of Encinitas, Calif., is creating a bronze sculpture for the entrance circle for the city’s new Equestrian Center. Stutz is currently fabricating a bronze horse that will stand approximately nine feet high and more than 11 feet long. The sculpture will be positioned on an elevated, landscaped berm. The artist’s signature technique utilizes woven latticed bronze strips welded together and supported by a steel armature. From the artist’s statement: “In addition to creating sculpture, my role as the artist in these projects involves a great deal of communicating, educating and listening. For every installation, I investigate history, physical characteristics and daily activity of the site in developing my design. Light plays through the latticed forms of my woven sculptures, blending line, movement, time and body.” Stutz’s work for the Equestrian Center is scheduled for completion in February 2004.
San Marco Library
Jacksonville artist Jerry Smith has completed an 8-foot by 9-foot painting for the entrance of the San Marco Branch Library. The entrance area is used by both the Library and the Balis Community Center located on Hendricks Avenue. The artwork is from Smith’s series “Paintings of ‘S’, and depicts a San Marco landscape near the St. Johns River. In it, a sudden gust of wind from an incoming storm catches a girl’s umbrella and causes pages from her book to fly into the sky. “These recent paintings have been made in Jacksonville about life in Jacksonville in one way or another,” said Smith. “Most often I choose as subject matter those closest to me and the spaces inside and outside my door. I seek the desire to send with the viewer a lasting impression of beauty and grace.”
The Art in Public Places Ordinance, passed by the City Council in 1997, allows for the dedication of three-quarters of one percent of construction and design costs of new or renovated public facilities for the purchase of public art.
Over $2.5 million has been generated for the public art fund since the ordinance was passed, most of it coming from recent Better Jacksonville Plan projects including the new Sports and Entertainment Arena, the Ballpark, the Main Library, the Courthouse Complex and the Equestrian Center.
The Art in Public Places Program is directed by the City’s appointed Public Art Commission, with administration and technical assistance provided by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.
For more information on Jacksonville’s public art program, contact the Art Commission’s Art in Public Places Office at 358-3600, or visit the Web site at www.culturalcouncil.org.
Artist Biographies:
Jaume Plensa of Barcelona, Spain first garnered attention for his sculptures in cast bronze and iron. Plensa has, over time, developed proficiency in many media including glass, light, neon, and water.
He has completed major outdoor installations in Europe, the United States and Japan, some of them achieving the status of city landmarks. He is currently engaged in projects for the cities of Washington D.C., Seoul, Stockholm and Jerusalem. His project for Chicago’s Millennium Park is slated for completion in 2004. Entitled “Crown Fountain,” the installation includes two 50’ towers of glass block which encase LED screens. The screens project changing digital images while water cascades down the towers. The towers flank a large reflecting pool which is bordered by benches.
The winner of many national and international awards, Plensa’s work is exhibited in major museums and galleries including the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris; the Henry Moore Sculpture Trust in Halifax, England; the Malmo Konsthallen in Sweden; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid and in New York, Chicago and Tokyo.
Larry Kirkland of Washington, D.C. has specialized in large site specific sculptural projects for the past 25 years. His most recent projects include the lobby of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.; the courtyard between colleges at Texas Tech; and a monumental garden stair at the historic Portland, Oregon Central Library. He also designed the outdoor art project of the bridge joining the Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Clinic in 1999. Kirkland uses many different materials in his projects including engraved stone, cast bronze, glass, water and light – all dictated by the needs and interests of each specific site.
Kathryn Freeman is a narrative painter residing in Chevy Chase, MD. She has received commissions for large-scale site specific projects for the Orlando City Hall, Orlando, Fla.; for Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, New York, NY and for Miller & Cevalier, Washington, D.C. She is a three-time recipient of the Maryland State Council for the Arts Individual Artist Award and has received numerous artist scholarships and fellowships including the Ingram Merrill Fellowship.
Freeman has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is represented in more than a dozen large private collections.
Michael Stutz, who will submit a proposal for the Equestrian Center, was selected from a field of more than 30 eligible artists. The latticed forms of his woven sculptures have been commissioned for major public works in cities including West Hollywood, Oakland, San Francisco and Salt Lake City, Utah. Notable large public commissions include the “Pneumatic Dreamer” atop the W Hotel adjacent to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and “Facing the Crowd,” two playful faces at the newly renovated PGE Park in Portland Oregon. The “Flame Figure” for the Utah Transit Authority’s Stadium Station addressed the University of Utah’s desire to commemorate the spirit of the 2002 Olympics held in Salt Lake City.
Jerry Smith was born in Omaha, Neb. He received his Bachelor’s degree in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute and his Master’s degree in painting from Boston University. He moved to Jacksonville from Atlanta in 2001. His work is in private and corporate collections throughout the United States and Europe, including Commerce Bank in Kansas City, the permanent collection of the Kemper Contemporary Art Center, the Women’s Foundation in Atlanta and AmSouth Bank. Smith is currently an adjunct professor at both the University of North Florida and Florida Community College at Jacksonville.