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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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FISHERMAN'S DREAM
Artist: John Martinson, Galena, IL
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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
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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.