Art on the River Selection 2009City of Dubuque
Arts & Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission
April 28, 2009
The Honorable Mayor and City Council
City of Dubuque
50 W. 13th Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
Re: Approval of 2009 Art on the River Exhibition
Dear Mayor and City Council Members:
Introduction
The purpose of this memorandum is to request City Council concurrence with the selection of
artwork for the 2009 Art on the River Competition.
Background
The City is in the third year of the Art on the River Program. The 2008 Exhibit, consisting of
ten works of sculpture in the Port of Dubuque, will be on display through June 2009.
In early March, the "Call for Sculptors" for the 2009 Art on the River Exhibition was sent to
several hundred artists, advertised in various on-line art opportunities web sites, and
advertised -locally. This year, there were 68 entries from 36 artists from 11 different states. The
2009 Art on the River Exhibition will be installed in July 2009, with the date for the opening
event tentatively set for Thursday, July 16th.
The Art on the River process is overseen by the Art on the River Committee which is
comprised of city staff, Arts Commissioners, arts educators, a representative from the
Dubuque Museum of Art and local artists. The Committee previously recommended to the
Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission and the City Council that a blind jury process be utilized
to select artwork for the Exhibition and to select different jury members each year, typically one
from the Dubuque area and two from out of the area.
Discussion
On April 24, the jury made their selections of art work for the 2009 exhibition. Members were:
Jeff Boshart, MFA, Art Faculty member at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston where he
teaches introductory through graduate level classes in sculpture. A full professor, Boshart
began teaching at Eastern Illinois University in 1988 after having taught at the University of
Wisconsin-Fox Valley and the University of Massachusetts. He has received awards for his
balanced approach to teaching, creative activities and service and for his high standards of
university faculty involvement. As a sculptor/artist, he has participated in over 100 exhibitions
and received more than 24 awards, a dozen commissions and been included in numerous
publications. As an educator/sculptor he has delivered over 36 papers at regional and national
art conferences, conducted more than 28 workshops and judged artworks for more than 50
exhibitions. He is a charter member of the International Sculpture Center, and active in the
Mid-America College Art Association (MACAA) and Foundations in Art: Theory and Education
(FATE), an international association of college art faculty dedicated to the ongoing
development of art fundamentals which awarded him, in 2007, the Master Educator Award. He
holds a B.A. in Art in Sculpture from Montana State University in Bozeman, and a M.F.A. in
Sculpture from the University Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.
Delores Fortuna, MFA, has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Ceramics at the School of
the Art Institute of Chicago since 1998. She holds a BFA and MFA from the University of
Chicago. She divides her time between Chicago and a home studio in rural Galena, IL. where
she loves to "watch wild turkeys while I throw." Fortuna is part of a group of area ceramicists
called Twenty Dirty Hands. She has been working in ceramics for 30 years and has won
invitations to show her bowls, vases, large sculptural pieces, teapots and her newest work,
"boat trays," on a national scale, including many galleries. Two of her pieces were accepted
into an international ceramics show in Mino, Japan. Her work uses basic wheel thrown shapes
as a starting points and uses glazes of her own formulation to create functional pieces. Some
recent exhibitions include the Dubuque Museum of Art; Lill Street Gallery, Chicago; AKAR
Gallery, Iowa City; Kunsthuis Ingrith Desmet, Amsterdam; and Galerie Wijland, Belgium. She
has participated in porcelain symposiums in Finland in 1999 and in Italy in 2000 and 2002.
Douglas Schlesier, MFA, has been a member of the Clarke College Art Faculty since 1969.
Currently a full Professor, he is director of the Clarke College Quigley Gallery and his teaching
duties include sculpture, drawing, ceramics, airbrush painting, and new genre. He has
escorted students on art study trips to South America and Mexico and has received numerous
grants for art and related travel to Europe, Australia, China, Japan, Syria, Kuwait, Egypt,
Greece, and Turkey, and most recently to Guatemala, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
He is active in the Dubuque community, being on the board of Directors of the Dubuque
County Historical Society, National Rivers Hall of Fame and member of the Exhibition
Committee of the Dubuque Museum of Art. Doug has exhibited art locally, regionally and
internationally while also working on many commissions which have included drawings,
mannequins, murals and sculptures. Much of his recent artwork and imagery has been driven
by his love for foreign travel, his interest in the Mississippi River and a yearning to share his
enthusiasm for other times, places and cultures. He earned, a BFA at State University of New
York in Buffalo and a MFA in sculpture at Washington State University in Pullman.
The jury selected 10 works and three alternates. Attachment 1 is a PowerPoint which provides
details on each of the works of sculpture including the title, artist, description of the piece, and
images of each work. Selections are:
Monolith Mantra V by Bilhenry Walker, Milwaukee, WI
City Mouse by Andrew Arvanetes, North Richland Hills, TX
Hooked by Jason Messier, Iowa City, IA
Zig Zag Boogie Woogie by Bill Wood, Fairfax, VA
Two Headed Trojan Ducky by Rob Neilson, Appleton, WI
Wedges 11 by Matt Moyer, Colombia, MO
River Objects by Skip Willits, Camanche, IA
Red Road Home by Skip Willits, Camanche, IA
You're So Vane by John Martinson, Galena, IL
Kneeling Communication Tower by Eric Troffkin, St. Louis, MO
2
Point Defiance by Beth Nybeck, Durango, IA (first alternate)
Horse by Victoria Reed, Cedar Falls, IA (second alternate)
All 1 See by Peter Flanary, Mineral Point, WI (third alternate)
The jury has also made recommendations on siting the works along the Riverwalk, at the
Grand River Center, and in Ice Harbor Park.
On April 28, The Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission voted unanimously to approve
the jury's selections of works of sculpture for the 2009 Art on the River Exhibition. The
Commission was very pleased with the quality of the art work.
Upon City Council concurrence with this recommendation, city staff will notify all artists of the
recommendation and work with selected artists to coordinate installation of the artwork in July
2009.
Recommendation
The Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission is recommending that the City Council concur with
the 2009 Art on the River jury selection for outdoor sculpture at the Port of Dubuque.
Sincerely,
Louise Kames
Chairperson
Attachment
3
ART
on the RIVER
2009
Sculptures
"Monolith
Mantra V"
Bilhenry Walker
Milwaukee, WI
"City Mouse"
Andrew
Arvanetes
North
Richland
Hills, TX
"Hooked"
Jason
Messier
Iowa City, IA
"Zig Zag Boogie Woggie"
Bill Wood
Fairfax, VA
"Two Headed Trojan Ducky"
Rob Neilson
Appleton, WI
"Wedges II"
Matt Moyer
Colombia. MO
"River Objects"
Skip Willits
Camanche, IA
"Red Road
Home"
Skip Willits
Camanche, IA
"You're So
Vane"
John Martinson
Galena, IL
"Kneeling Communication
Tower"
Eric Troffkin
St. Louis. MO
Alternates
"Point Defiance"
Beth Nybeck
Durango, IA
"Horse"
Victoria Reed
Cedar Falls, IA
"All I See"
Peter Flanary
Mineral
Point, WI