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2012 Art on the River Exhibition_Artwork SelectionCity of Dubuque .marts & Cultural _Affairs Advisory Commission March 28, 2012 The Honorable Mayor and City Council City of Dubuque 50 W. 13th Street Dubuque, IA 52001 Re: Approval of 2012 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 2012 Art on the River Competition. Background The City is currently in the sixth year of the Art on the River Program. The 2011 Exhibit, consisting of eleven works of sculpture in the Port of Dubuque, will be on display through June 2012. In January, the "Call for Sculptors" for the 2012 -2013 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 120 entries from 60 artists from across the country. The 2012 Art on the River Exhibition will be installed in July 20112, with the date for the opening event scheduled for Thursday, July 12, 2012. 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 A panel of three credentialed jurors reviews the artist applications and makes a Recommendation to the Commission and the City Council on the selection of artwork. The jury made their selections of art work for the 2012 exhibition on March 12, 2012. Jurors for the new exhibit are: Melinda Childs, Director of Artist Services and Consultant at Forecast Public Art, a non - profit arts organization based in St. Paul, MN, that connects the energies and talents of artists with the needs and opportunities of communities to create meaningful 1 public art. Forecast also publishes the twice annual Public Art Review, the world's leading journal devoted exclusively to the field of Contemporary Art. Childs works closely with Minnesota artists interested in public art and creates region- specific grants serving rurally -based artists in partnership with Minnesota's Regional Arts Councils. She conducts "Public Art 101" workshops for artists and communities, and manages the ongoing development of the online Public Art Toolkit to further assist those interested in working in the public realm. She completed a self- designed degree at the University of Minnesota titled "Art and Social Change" with an emphasis in public art. Past experience includes teaching, curating exhibitions, and creating public art projects Graeme Reid, Assistant Director, Museum of Wisconsin Art. Graeme Reid graduated from the University of Glasgow and Indiana State University (ISU) with Master's degrees in 1990 and 1993, respectively. With eighteen years of experience in arts management/curatorial work, he is currently Assistant Director at the Museum of Wisconsin Art, having previously worked at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, WI), the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette (IN) and the Swope Art Museum (Terre Haute, IN). He has curated over 120 group and solo exhibitions and worked on the development and installation of institutional collections. An experienced judge on a local, regional and national level and award winning writer on the arts, he has taught art history and the humanities at ISU and Purdue University and is a regular guest lecturer at various Wisconsin institutions. Jessica Teckemeyer is a sculptor and Assistant Professor of Art at Clarke University in Dubuque, IA. Her artwork has been exhibited widely, most notably: Montevideo, Uruguay; New York, NY; Chicago, IL; South Orange, NJ; Cincinnati, OH; Minneapolis, MN; and Dubuque, IA. Highlights of 2011 included a solo exhibition at the SooVAC gallery in Minneapolis, MN; receiving an Iowa Arts Council Grant; exhibiting in the "Voices VII: Revolt" invitational in Dubuque, IA; and visiting artist lectures at both Clarke University and Pratt Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute in New York. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2004 and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2010 from the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities. Teckemeyer worked for internationally known artist Siah Armajani while living in Minneapolis, MN. The jury selected 10 works and three alternates. Attachment 1 provides details on each of the works of sculpture including the title, artist, description of the art work, and images of each work. Selections are: Iowa, Zachary Bowman, Cedar Falls, Iowa Selective Memory, Chris Wubbena, Jackson, Missouri Agrarian Thinking Space, Greg Mueller, St. Peter, Minnesota Metal Assisted Bramble Stack, V. Skip Willits, Camanche, IA Nina or Neried, John Cino, Patchogue, New York Anchorlilly 2, William Grant Turnbull, Madison, Wisconsin Ganzfeld 2, Jeff Harms, Chicago, Illinois Stanchion, Dan Perry, Waterloo, Iowa Powerless, Dean Kugler, Davenport, Iowa 2 Lullaby, Scott Wallace, Hendricks, MN Alternate Selections: Fisherman's Dream, John Martinson, Galena, Illinois Hope, Springs, Eternal, Jeremy Rudd, Dyersville, Iowa Martyr Dress, Jennifer Hecker, Brockport, NY One of the original selections made by the jury has been withdrawn by the artist. The jury has also made recommendations on siting the works along the Riverwalk and at the Grand River Center. On March 19 the Art on the River Committee voted unanimously to approve the jury's selections. On March 27, the Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission voted unanimously to approve the jury's selections of works of sculpture for the 2012 -2013 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 2011. Recommendation The Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission is recommending that the City Council concur with the 2012 Art on the River jury selection for outdoor sculpture at the Port of Dubuque. Sincerely, Marina O'Rourke Chairperson Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission Attachment 3 Sj.SI j 0 I, suogoa es £inr Z 0Z a ti t. s I • ar a uo IOWA Artist: Zachary Bowman Cedar Falls, IA Width: 4' Height: 6' Depth: 7' Weight: 175 Ibs Materials: Mild steel 16 gauge, finished with liquid gun blue and penetrol ARTIST STATEMENT: Iowa is one of several pieces of a series. Significant objects or ideas of a specific subject inspired the other sculptures from the series, i.e. the town of Coon Rapids, IA, or Firefighters. I used the same inspiration to make Iowa. The Iowa State Capitol building is the only five -domed capital building in the country. Iowa also ranked first of U.S. states in percentage of total power generated by wind and second in wind generating capacity behind Texas. The goal was to make a sculpture that represents Iowa but not with corn, soybeans and livestock. With the information gathered I took the dome shape, cut it in half, fit them together so it would be visually interesting. Next I added the long wings, which represents the blades of a wind turbine. I chose to add Cedar to the piece for a contrast in texture and color. It's also a natural material so it gives the piece an earthier feel (Iowa). Last, because manufacturing is the largest sector of Iowa's economy I mimicked shingling on the interior of the dome to represent not only an architectural element but to portray the assembling /construction of an object, much like manufacturing. SELECTIVE MEMORY Artist: Chris Wubbena, Jackson, MO z _: - SELECTIVE MEMORY Artist: Chris Wubbena, Jackson, MO Width: 9' Height: 9' Depth: 3' Weight: 300 Ibs Materials: 16 gauge mild steel, acid etched imagery, blue black oxide, penetrol clear coat. The concepts and forms that make up my artwork generate from an interest in melding physical and cultural history into compositions that exhume, analyze, and challenge issues from yesterday and today. Through an assortment of media I create artwork that compiles and preserves information into layered, stacked, and eroded forms. The finished product most often references the link between geology, history, and everyday life, such as social stratification, political fissures, or historical sedimentation and erosion. The sculpture, titled selective memory, is an autobiographical mining of the past, present, and future, as memory fades and earth erodes. In the end, the artwork I create is an amalgamation of various landmarks and artifacts. A landmark is more than a simple object or place; it is a reminder of an emotion, experience, or discovery. An artifact is a clue into secrets, secrets that have resisted the affects of time, to tell old underlying stories. The landmarks and artifacts presented in my work, through material, form, and content, investigate our shared contemporary existence as it sits teetering atop a world of accumulated beliefs, traditions, and misconceptions. selective memory exists as a contemporary artifact and brief fragment of personal growth. The metaphoric use of geology is employed for investigation into the layers of sediment and sentiment that make up a personal life story of history, memory, and meaning. Through the constructive process of metal fabrication and the subtractive process of acid etching, selective memory unifies sculptural and pictorial languages into an autobiographical account of the past, present, and future. W 0 a o CO O z Z Zr; Z a; a _ . I () ZL °' < ' re = Q m ce FT O � Q � .L.., E-(6) Q AGRARIAN THINKING SPACE Artist: Greg Mueller, St. Peter, MN Width: 9' Height: 9' Depth: 3' Weight: 300 Ibs Materials: 16 gauge mild steel, acid etched imagery, blue black oxide, penetrol clear coat. ARTIST STATEMENT: A farmer in Southern Minnesota once told me "working the fields wasn't boring; it was good thinking time." Agrarian Thinking Space is a tangible reverence to the Corn Belt work ethic. The monastics refer to this synthesis of reflection and labor as ora et labora; pray and work. My vision is to invent alternative people places that convey a subtle sense of wonder and surprise. Rescuing agricultural salvage is an intuitive attempt to breathe new life into the reclaim and harmonize the spirit of the material into a potential introspective experience. Disparate influences of sacred architecture and a small dose of agrarian steam punk are the springboards for my architectonic compositions. The viewer completes the composition by activating the space, inventing a function that follows form. METAL ASSISTED BRAMBLE STACK Artist: Skip Willits, Camanche, IA METAL ASSISTED BRAMBLE STACK Artist: Skip Willits, Camanche, IA Width: 40" Height: 8' Depth: 40" Weight: 175 Ibs Materials: 1/4" and '1/2" round stock steel rod, 12 gauge tempered sheet metal, found driftwood. ARTIST STATEMENT: I live near the river and spend much of my time in the forests of its islands. I am drawn to the huge flotsam piles of driftwood the floods leave behind. Lately I've been borrowing these materials to create 'bramble stacks.' I collect and collage these driftwoods into a steel skeletal framework, creating a solid wood and steel sculpture. The process is often times ritualistic and site specific. Width: 27" Height: 47" Depth: 23" Weight: 100 Ibs Materials: a single piece of cherry wood, polyurethane. HINA Artist: John Cino, Patchogue, NY NERIED Artist: John Cino, Patchogue, NY Width: 23" Height: 81" Depth: 17" Weight: 300 Ibs Materials: a single piece of cherry wood, polyurethane ARTIST STATEMENT: Hina was created as a follow up to Neried. Each combine a number of influences. H i na's title is based on a nymph from Polynesian mythology. The piece is meant to express buoyancy and the interplay between undersea organisms and the fluid environment. The inspiration for Hina came while listening to the improvisational music of the Grateful Dead in which multiple instruments play in and around each other. Finally the branch of mathematical research know as fractal geometry plays a role in the repetition of curvilinear movements of multiple scales. ANCHORLILY 2 Artist: William Grant Turnbull, Madison, WI ANCHORLILY 2 Artist: William Grant Turnbull, Madison, WI Width: 6' Height: 10' Depth: 5' Weight: 200 lbs Materials: mild steel, steel plate, acid- fume - induced patina, sealer ARTIST STATEMENT: My work is primarily about finding aesthetic overlap in the world of biology and engineering, 'Anchorlily' was part of a larger series on form and function in plant structures. Water lilies' roots function as much to keep them in place as to bring water to the plant's tissues. Exploring this hybrid on a larger scale would allow for a much more subtle and nuance lace to be fabricated in the leaf portion, and a more aesthetically - pleasing anchor, on a full scale ship's anchor. A simple formal study, this sculpture is a playful, graceful, look at natural engineering, and very at home by the water. GANZFELD 2 Artist: Jeff Harms, Chicago, IL •aalaas *lei au!d Jo Baal 000` pua sZ x Z au!d Jo Baal OOP :sieiJa ;aw 4 : ;u6laM 21 : u ;daa 4 I, :41-16 PH 60Z : u ;p!M iI `o6a3lgo `swie-j mar :;s!py Z O12dZNVO ARTIST STATEMENT: I would like to build a large wooden sculpture measuring at most 20'x14'x12'. I'm calling it Ganzfeld 2. The size can be adjusted to fit the space The cornucopia -like shape will have a door that can be entered by the public. Inside, the wood supports will radiate out from two separate points (one on the left, one on the right) like a rounded drawing of two -point perspective. My goal is to elicit a feeling of expansiveness within a defined space. The object will feel bigger from the inside than from the outside. The wood will curve around the viewer's field of vision as though the trees themselves were bending down in a nurturing way. The sun will filter in through the structure onto the ground. It will still have a great impact. The sculpture should not look as though it were on a pedestal, but instead exist on the ground like an empty dwelling. STANCHION Artist: Dan Perry Waterloo, IA Width: 5.5' Height: 8.5' Depth: 3' Weight: 600 lbs Materials: 14 gauge mild steel, galvanized and powder - coated ARTIST STATEMENT: The imagery in my work is an amalgamation of candid recollections and fabricated realities constructed in the guise of toys, props, machines, and architectural elements. Constant exposure to films, music, folklore, science, and the events of the world around me influence my work as I attempt to recreate events sculpturally. Stanchion is based in the notion of a portable landscape. By combining references to common building materials such as cinder blocks with the imagery of an idealistic cloud, I aim to explore the human desire to control our exposure to our environment. POWERLESS Artist: Dean Kugler, Davenport, IA POWERLESS Artist: Dean Kugler, Davenport, IA Width: 5.5' Height: 8.5' Depth: 3' Weight: 600 lbs Materials: 14 gauge mild steel, galvanized and powder- coated ARTIST STATEMENT: This is a first piece in a series of 3 poses that I am doing titled "blind control." Right now these pieces are helping me to flesh out a lot of poses from my sketchbook that I have been compiling over the last few years. The title (as does most of my titles) speaks less about the work than the state in which it was created. Given my schedule as a business owner, father and husband, I have found it difficult to begin or finish any work in the last few years. So this is me finally realizing that that at some point I will never be in a perfect position to sculpt. So close my eyes and jump in. LULLABY Artist: Scott Wallace Hendricks, MN Width: 3' Height: 10' (with pedestal) Depth: 3' Weight: 1700 lbs Materials: sheet bronze, pre -cast concrete ARTIST STATEMENT: The focus of my studio work has been my involvement in the development, production, exhibition and permanent siting of large -scale public SCUlpture. Recent work represents my continuing interest in objects found within our domestic culture, where ideas are manifest through the embellishment of form and the exploitation of scale. se;euie;iv Z oZ 7 aye uollt FISHERMAN'S DREAM Artist: John Martinson, Galena, IL ;uiad 'pals a6ne6 pie ` ;uawdinba punoi6Aald pals pala/Caai : siepa ;aw sql 09Z : ;1161aM iv :q ;daa St l :411610H ‘9 °9 : u ;p!M 11 `aualeo `uosuipaw ugor : ;s!py WV3?Ja SiNVW?J3HSId ARTIST STATEMENT: Imagine that you are at the bottom of a river looking up at the thousands of fish waiting to be caught. Its a fisherman's dream HOPE, SPRINGS, ETERNAL Artist: Jeremy Rudd Dyersville, IA Width: 40" Height: 8' Depth: 40" Weight: steel, cedar wood, steel tubing rod 1 Art,grovErsiETERNAI, ZD/Z J EUAg ARTIST STATEMENT: This sculpture is an allegorical landscape. This piece illustrates a perpetual landscape that springs forth from the well head and spreads to varying degrees, showing the endless cycle of fat and lean times, the boom and bust so familiar to people who make a living from nature. MARTYR DRESS Artist: Jennifer Hecker Brockport, NY Width: 3' Height: 4.5' Depth: 4' Weight: 100 lbs Materials: lump coal, metal armature, epoxy resin ARTIST STATEMENT: Martyr Dresses have a relationship to hair shirts worn by religious ascetics as a form of offering or penance. There were three works in this series - - -one made of eggshells, another of glass shards, and this one made of lump charcoal. The one made of eggshells is meant to suggest a wedding dress, with the eggshells referring to fertility. The dress made of glass represents material possessions or wealth. Although it may sparkle like jewels, it's nothing but broken bottles and jars. This dress made of lump charcoal is both a strapless, black gown and a funeral pyre. It refers to both the transience of beauty and the sacrifices made for beauty.