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Art on the River Exhibition 2010City of Dubuque .Arts & Cultural.A airs Advisory Commission March 26, 2010 The Honorable Mayor and City Council City of Dubuque 50 W. 13 Street Dubuque, IA 52001 Re: Approval of 2010 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 2010 Art on the River Competition. Background The City is in the fourth year of the Art on the River Program. The 2009 Exhibit, consisting of eleven works of sculpture in the Port of Dubuque, will be on display through June 2010. In January, the "Call for Sculptors" for the 2010 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 a record 100 entries from 58 artists from 18 different states and one international entry from Thailand.. The 2010 Art on the River Exhibition will be installed in July 2010, with the date for the opening event scheduled for Thursday, July 15th. The Art on the River process is overseen by the Art on the River Committee which is comprised of Arts Commissioners, arts educators, a representative from the Dubuque Museum of Art, local artists and city staff. 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 March 13, the jury made their selections of art work for the 2010 exhibition. Jury members were: Isabel Barbussa, MFA, is a professor in sculpture in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Iowa. She attended art school at Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Argentina. She received an MFA in sculpture and book arts from the University of California, in Santa Barbara. She has shown her work nationally and internationally in group and solo shows in the United States, Europe and Latin America. Amy Mangrich, MFA, a Dubuque native, received a Master of Fine Art and a Master of Art from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. She is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Visual Art, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. She is also Instructional Design Consultant, Learning Technology Center, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Mangrich is co- founder of IN -SITE, an organization which fosters temporary public art in Milwaukee County. IN -SITE has received local and national attention for its innovative approach to bringing art to neighborhoods which are non -art centers, in the process creating ongoing relationships with local organizations and business owners. Bill Farrell, Galena, IL retired after a 35 year teaching career at the Art Institute of Chicago. He has decades of experience with exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and visiting teaching appointments around the world. In the `90s he had studios in Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In 1982, his sculptures called "popeys," received the first National Endowment for the Arts award in ceramics. 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: Public Prayer Booth by Dylan Mortimer, Kansas City, MO The Long Toss, by John Anderson - Bricker, Dubuque, IA Ball Joint by Kristy Summers, Carbondale, IL Balance by Kristy Summers, Carbondale, IL *Dapple 1 by Victoria Reed, Cedar Falls, IL *Dapple 11 by Victoria Reed, Cedar Falls, IL A Biker's Day of Fishing by Jason Messier, Iowa City, IA Daredevil by Robert Craig, Des Moines, IA Oneota Flow by Skip Willits, Camanche, IA The White Rabbit by Marisa Dipaola, Vernon, VT Leaf Stack by Nicholas Legeros, Minneapolis, MN 1 Fly You Fly by Marie Evans, Tucson, AZ' Conscious of Her Shores by Jayson Lowery, Williamsburg, VA (alternate selection) The jury has also made recommendations on siting the works along the Riverwalk and at the Grand River Center. *Although artist Victoria Reed submitted Dapple 1 and Dapple 11 as two separate entries, the jury's recommendation was that Dapple 1 and Dapple 11 be exhibited together if the city is able to negotiate with the artist to exhibit both works. On March 17 the Art on the River Committee voted unanimously to approve the jury's selections. On March 23, the Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission voted unanimously to approve the jury's selections of works of sculpture for the 2010 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 2010. 2 Recommendation The Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission is recommending that the City Council concur with the 2010 Art on the River jury selection for outdoor sculpture at the Port of Dubuque. Sincerely, Geri Shafer Chairperson Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission Attachment Public Prayer Booth Artist: Dylan Mortimer, Kansas City, MO Public Prayer Booth Artist Statement • This piece plays on the format of the traditional public phone booth, but adds a spiritual element. It functions as a normal booth with a private enclosure, but adds a flip down kneeler for prayer. Inside the enclosure is an instruction manual simply guiding the viewer to use the piece to pray if they so desire. • There is no literal affiliation with any particular faith per se, rather the piece aims to question the idea of prayer in the public itself. The piece fuses humor, sarcasm, and sincerity, and has produced a myriad of reactions from sincere use, humorous use, offense, praise, etc. It aims to highlight and spark further discussion about the contemporary expression of religion within the public community. Public Prayer Booth Artist Dylan Mortimer Biography • Dylan Mortimer graduated with a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and a MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York. He has created public art installations in nine states including New York, Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington. k The Long Toss Artist: John Anderson - Bricker Dubuque, IA The Long Toss John Anderson - Bricker • Materials: Steel • Dimensions of spheres vary (6 spheres at 35" diameter, 1 sphere at 14" diameter) and exhibition dimensions of final piece can be determined by space available. The Long Toss by John Anderson - Bricker Artist Statement • The Long Toss is a pop art nod to the communal summer activity of lawn games such as Bocce Ball. This playful piece mimics the enticing lure of barbeques, friendship and long- summer evenings. These metal assemblage spheres arranged in the landscape surprise the passerby as an encounter with an ongoing game where the players are absent. The spheres become surrogates for the human activity that the viewer can step into and interact with. The Long Toss John Anderson - Bricker • After receiving a BFA in sculpture and ceramics at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1990, Anderson - Bricker immediately began teaching ceramics at the Metropolitan School for the Arts in Syracuse, New York. One year later he assumed director responsibilities for the department and continued to teach ceramics and sculpture until 1996. From 1995 through 1997 he worked as a staff artist for the City of Syracuse Parks and Recreation Programs. As a staff artist Anderson - Bricker oraanized and imDlemented collaborative mural painting projects, ceramic mosaics and public sculptures. In 1997 he moved to Dubuque, Iowa, simultaneously sculpting, painting and overseeing community collaborative projects which led to a curatorial position at the Dubuque Museum of Art in 1998. He resigned his post from the Dubuque Museum of Art in 2001 to pursue sculpture and painting full time. Anderson - Bricker works and resides in Dubuque, Iowa. Ball Joint Artist: Kristy Summers Carbondale, IL Ball Joint Artist Kristy Sommers • Materials: cast iron and bronze • Dimensions: 2' wide x 6.5' high X 2' • Artist Statement: I think about my work as a way to understand and make realizations about myself and society, to make sense of a thread that is going to take me through life and lead me to a destination. My work is about basic truths about the "self" and hence myself. It is an exploration and acceptance of who I am and how I relate to my surroundings. • What makes an individual tick? Where does your strength and balance lie? How do you navigate life? What is your relation to others and how does that change your perception of what surrounds you. This is the basis of my intrigue and revelations into human nature. These questions not only help me understand myself, but also allow me to begin to understand others and the world that we inhabit. Kristy Summers — Biography • Kristy Summers was born in Kansas City, received her BFA from the University of Kansas in 2003 and MFA from Alfred University in 2006. She has shown her work in many group and solo exhibitions nationally. Kristy has received numerous travel grants to participate in iron art casting conferences and various iron pours around the country, guest lecturing at Florida State University on her work within contemporary cast iron art. She has directed multiple group exhibitions. Kristy has held workshops on welding and glass casting at the University of Kansas and has been involved within the teaching field for the last six years through Alfred University and Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Balance Artist: Kristy Summers, Carbondale, IL Balance by Kristy Summers . Materials: Cast iron, wood, and steel 14" x 6'x 4' • Weight 1,000 lbs $ Vk '! �a t Y r Dapple I Artist: Victoria Reed, Cedar Falls, IA Dapple II, Artist Victoria Reed Dapple 1 and Dapple 11 Artist Victoria Reed, Cedar Falls, IA artist statement • Materials: Aluminum • 3.5'xTx10' — All of my work hinges from the premise that the mind supplies detail far better than the hands, so large portions of my work are merely implied, with only small focal points of naturalistic detail. As such, my work relies heavily on its audience to complete it. — The use of animals from my work stems from my Iowan roots, which both love and mock in equal shares. Farm girl turned fine artist, my work talks about heritage at the same time as it talks about the aesthetics of form and the emotive qualities of its subjects, which simultaneously undermines the same. Ever present is a conflict between memory and reality, between fact and fantasy, so that the end result is a seamless compromise of each. — The motivation for this particular piece, entitled "Dapple," was to mesh the delicacy of scroll work, lace, and the daydreams of a little girl together with the power, grace, and mass of the horse; recalling the common dapple grey coloration, yet also bringing to mind something reminiscent of jewelry. Victoria Reed biography • Victoria Reed is a lifetime resident of Cedar Falls, Iowa. She is currently seeking her BFA degree from the University of Northern Iowa, with an emphasis in sculpture and printmaking, and expects to graduate in May 2010. Victoria was awarded full tuition scholarships from the UNI department of Art for the 2008 -09 and 2009 -10 academic years and also received the Butch Bender Scholarship in 2009. Reed's work has appeared in several group exhibitions, as well as a solo show at the Waterloo Center for the Arts. Reed was presented with the Outstanding Body of Work Award in the 2008 UNI Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition, and earned a Merit Award in the 2009 exhibition. Reed's work is represented in the permanent collections of the University of Northern Iowa, the Target Corporation, and the Waterloo Center for the Arts. Iowa City A Biker's Day of Fishing, Jason Messier. A Biker's Day of Fishing Jason Messier, Iowa City Iowa Artist Statement • "A Biker's Day of Fishing " was created to bend the world of art while it combines motorcycles and fishing. As the giant steel dragonfly lands on the bobber, its weight bends the top of the bobber giving the sculpture a special movement. The concept is brought about from my automotive background, as the form of the dragonfly comes from a custom designed motorcycle gas tank. While the shapes of the wings also breathe hot rods and pinstripes. The overall focus is of a single moment in time captured for all to see. A Biker's Day of Fishing Jason Messier Biography • As a mechanic, I worked on cars for nearly seven and one half years to the point that I started looking at parts for their shapes and functions for inspirations, without even noticing that I was doing it. • Beginning in graduate school, I was still looking for a focus or main direction that I would follow, or go towards to find out who I was as an artist. I was able to find that direction in the combination of mechanical parts and automotive designs. I was able to bring a part of who I am in to my pieces and now I feel free to create. • The work that I create is not to attract the regular viewer into the art world. It's for the hard working, "grease under my fingernails excites me" mechanics, car collectors, and bikers. The mechanical style and feel of my pieces would bring a new appeal to art viewers for many years to come. • I draw my inspirations from past and present technologies and achievements in the automotive industry. My main inspirations are drawn from the work and lives of Indian Larry and Jesse James. Both men have had a lasting effect on the world of custom fabrication and motorcycle design; however they remain true and compassionate to those who they have learned from. Daredevil Artist: Robert Craig 0 Daredevil Robert Craig, Des Moines, IA, artist statement • Steel, 5'x 7'6" x 3', 500 Ibs • My work points both inward to the inherent qualities of metal and outward to the constructed environment and to the history of the industrial age. "Daredevil" is part of a series of five large -scale fabricated steel sculptures that derive their form through the study of selected industrial and domestic objects. The objects' shape, part - to -part functional relationship, age and wear become points of interpretation and abstraction. I further consider the objects' form, function and history through drawing and model building. In this series, the abstract composite form of "daredevil" retains some recognition to known things that lead to ideas of function and action. Color is a critical element, and the color was chosen to be as suggestive as the structure itself. Daredevil Robert Craig biography • Robert Craig creates large -scale sculptures for public and private spaces. His work can be viewed in the collections of cities, museums, sculpture parks and universities. He actively participates in juried exhibitions throughout the United States. Robert lives in Des Moines, Iowa, and he is a Professor of Art at Drake University. He received his MFA from Florida State University and BA from Eastern Illinois University. Oneota Flow Artist: Skip Willets Camanche, IA W Oneota Flow Skip Willets, Camanche, IA Artist Statement • Materials: steel and beaver harvested willow • This is a proposal for an installation called, "Oneota Flow." In the flow of the river, beaver sticks, chewed clean, beautifully marked and sculpted, lay on the shoreline. Altered by wild and magical creatures, these sticks are important to me. I collect them and use them in my work. I would like to install a sculpture consisting of beaver sticks woven into steel reinforced frames creating a series of columns. Oneota Flow Skip Willets, Camanche, IA Biography • The technique I use to help create my artwork, welded metal, is a skill I began learning at age ten from my father, who was a shop welder for 40 years. He taught me everything from the characteristics of materials such as steel, cast iron and aluminum to various techniques from arc to torch welding. In 1983 I placed my first large scale outdoor public sculpture. Since that time I've continued to make art and live, happily, on the banks of the Mississippi River. l h� ( $t x 0j I jqA �'' X A - Vlt%� O 'e, o l 4-4A _Z� 0J.1 Z M d� vw 10) a Ad, v v he r S, waz 416 W 6 W& vup M1 The White Rabbit Artist: Marisa Dipaola The White Rabbit Marisa Dipaola, Vernon, Vermont Proposed sculpture Materials: braided found plastic bags, nylon webbing and outdoor lights on reinforced found metal frame. `The white rabbit' will wrap and clamp around a central lamppost or tree. Continuing my theme of storybooks come to life, I propose to create `the white rabbit' as an illuminated sculpture, glowing in his court dress, heralding all with his trumpet, as he appears on the cover of my copy of The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll.` "It's- it's a very fine day!" said a timid voice at her side. She was walking by the White Rabbit, who was peeping anxiously into her face.' This illuminated sculpture symbolizes the new beginnings that are constructed each day. Trumpet in hand, `the white rabbit' entices everyone further down the rabbit hole, to enjoy this community filled with imagination and wonder. "The white rabbit' will be woven from found nylon webbing, found plastic bags and strings of white and pink outdoor lights, wrapping a reinforced chicken wire framework. Overall the structure would be 5 feet tall, with a 3 1 /2 feet diameter, and could be oriented to hover above on a tree limb or stand upright, clamped through the frame to a lamppost, fence, or tree in the area. The White Rabbit Marisa Dipaola Biography Marisa Dipaola was born barefoot on December 12t ",1977, and grew up in the coastal marshlands and cedar swamps of southern New Jersey. Graduating with honors in 2000 from the Rhode Island School of Design, she majored in painting and began experimenting with site - specific soft sculptures. Upon graduation, Marisa received a travel grant for Cordoba, Spain, which began a collection of travels to fourteen countries and various environments, studying the sacred architecture and natural wonders, producing site - specific artworks in Spain, Japan, and Iceland, and entire series of work while on residencies in India and Egypt. She exhibits her sculptures and fibrous installations internationally, at museums, galleries, universities, and cultural institutions. Currently, she creates storybook worlds handmade from recycled materials, an effort to clean up this world to glow with the wonders of the natural world. Examples of Other Work Leaf Stack by Nicholas Legeros, Minneapolis, MN Leaf Stack by Nicholas Legeros • Cast bronze • This bronze chair and ottoman is a playful metaphor for my childhood experience of raking a pile of leaves and then sitting in it. Leaf Stack Nicholas Legeros Biography Nicholas Legeros has a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. For over twenty years he was an Artist -in- residence and instructor at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts. Eight years ago, Legeros left teaching to pursue a full -time career as a sculptor. His recent large commissions include St. Joseph's Hospital, Lifetouch Studios, Hudson Hospital and Roselawn Cemetery. Legeros served for three years as President of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA). He has also served for the past two years as Coordinator of NEMAA's Art -A- Whirl, the largest artist open studio tour in America. Fly you Fly by Marie Evans Tuscon, AZ I Fly You Fly Lisa Marie Evans Artist Statement • Proposed sculpture • Materials: Steel, Lazy Susan, Powder Coat Finish, Anchors, Ink on Banner • A ZOETROPE is a cylinder object with slits on the outside and still images on the inside that, when spun and viewed through the slits with the cylinder rotating, creates the illusion of an animation. "I Fly, You Fly" is a sky blue ZOETROPE with a series of still images of a Heron. As the ZOETROPE spins, the Heron flies. • Animation presents an interesting avenue as we can relate to the images in a childlike and simple fashion while, at the same time, the message is applicable to adult content. My approach with animation is to present themes of human interest in a childlike manner, which induces the viewer to understand the conceptual motivation and deeper meaning behind the work. • Sustainable Dubuque is a community that values biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and connection of nature and people. "I Fly, You Fly" uses a Heron to represent Sustainable Dubuque's preservation of Environmental Integrity, specifically through its Heron Pond Restoration. Sustainability is defined by a community's ability to meet the environmental, economic, and social equity needs of today without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. "I Fly, You Fly" symbolizes this positive relationship between generations and the effects our actions today may hold tomorrow. • The interactive aspect of the ZOETROPE, while enjoyable for the people, also models the interactive relationship we hold with the environment and brings others closer into the work. A ZOETROPE inherently returns to its original image in a cyclical fashion. "I Fly, You Fly" shares in this theme of a certain recycling and connectivity of existence between all living beings. Lisa Marie Evans Biography • Lisa Marie Evans' work is shown internationally and varies in form from feature length documentary to short animation to public art installation. Evans has worked as an instructor at the Kansas City Art Institute, the University of Missouri Kansas City and Artists, INC, a professional development course for artists. She has been a selected artist for Creative Capital's Professional Development Workshop for Artists, the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City's Inspiration Grant, Avenue of the Arts in Kansas City and Boynton Beach, and Charlotte Street Foundation's Urban Culture Project Studio Residency Program For Visual Artists. Evans recently moved to Tucson, AZ and is currently building connections for future collaborations. alternate Conscious of Her Shores Artist Jayson Lowery Williamsburg, VA �. �� ,� . Conscious of Her Shores Artist Statement • Materials, marble, limestone, steel, and cast iron • This sculpture expresses tension between two bodies resulting from a situation in which one reinforces the other while remaining inconspicuous or even intentionally hidden. This relationship is evident in physical objects such as roof -top billboards and their support structures. It can also be found in relationships between people in many work environments, and between communities of people. Conscious of Her Shores Artist Jayson Lowery Biography • Jayson Lowery has a MFA from Wayne State University (2004) and a BFA from Northern Arizona University (2000). He recently moved to Williamsburg, VA to start work at the College of William and Mary, where he teaches 3 -D Foundations. He lived and worked in Detroit, Michigan for 7 years, and taught sculpture at Wayne State University on a Lectureship. He often works on a life size and larger scale and has exhibited in galleries and in outdoor exhibitions nationally and internationally. Commissions include work installed at the Auburn Hills, Michigan, and the Telford, England, offices of EDS, Inc, and a centerpiece for the Thomas Bonner Memorial Court on the Wayne State University main campus, Detroit, Michigan. In 2005 he served as faculty representative for Wayne State University at the Southern Conference on Cast Iron Art. In 2003 he was selected to participate in the Art on the Move Summer Mentorship and Artist Residency programs.