Written Words by artists Steven Gillman and Katherine Keefer

Two Broward County Public Artworks
Included in Prestigious 2008 Year in Review
The 2008 Year in Review CD-rom highlights innovative and exemplary public art projects completed between April 2007 and April 2008 in the United States.  Produced annually by Americans for the Arts’ Public Art Network, Year in Review is an exceptional planning tool for communities developing public art projects. The Public Art Network requests and collects entries, then invites two accomplished arts professionals to review and select projects to be honored. Environmental sculptor and landscape designer Jody Pinto and Ted Landsmark, president of the Boston Architectural College, selected and presented their top 45 public artworks from more than 200 submissions.

The first Broward County project selected for inclusion in the 2008 Year in Review is the art plaza Written Words, by artists Steven Gillman and Katherine Keefer.  The installation is a unique "room" within a larger exterior plaza adjacent to the West Regional Library.  The art project occupies a 32' x 32' area carved into a group of four grassy mounds. It consists of a series of arc-shaped granite benches radiating out from a centrally placed abstract granite sculpture, a granite arc of text inlaid into the two-toned colored concrete sidewalk and granite retaining walls cladding the cut-out mounds. The artwork's skewed grid deliberately contrasts with that of the larger plaza, as a metaphor for the library which functions to help one “see” in new ways.

The second project honored is Shadow Boxing, located at the South Regional Library.  Aharmonious

Shadow Boxing by Chris Janey

combination of color, form, light and shadow, the work is composed of aluminum, sand-finished frame and tempered colored glass. The artwork takes the form of a canopy that welcomes visitors to the library by washing them with oceanic, indigenous colors during the day with natural light, and artistic lighting in the evening, as they walk through the entrance doors.

The recipients were announced at the annual Americans for the Artsconference in June.  A complete tour of the Broward Cultural Division’s Public Art and Design Program is available online at www.broward.org/arts.

back to top

Whirls and Swirls and a Vortex on Water by Alice Aycock

Meet the Artist: Alice Aycock
Artist Alice Aycock disscussed the completion of the public artwork project at Central Broward Regional Park on Wednesday, October 29, from 4-6 pm, in the park’s Field House Hall, 3700 Northwest 11th Place, Lauderhill.

Aycock was commissioned in 2004 to design a water feature at the State Road 7 entrance of Central Broward Regional Park. This will be an educational outreach presentation to encourage the community to come and share feedback and interests in the artwork, Whirls and Swishes and a Vortex on Water.

Alice Aycock is a well-known American sculptor who has produced a significant public artwork for Broward County’s Public Art and Design Program. Whirls and Swirls and a Vortex on Water, a sculpture of aluminum, steel, concrete and acrylic, measures approximately 34’ wide and 17’ tall and hovers slightly above water in a 30’ x 21’ elliptical-shaped pool.  Massive aluminum ribbons up to 20’ long spiral around an acrylic sphere that has an internal sculptural element alongside a 16’ aluminum vortex that delves below the water’s surface. This artwork operates in the realm of wonder and curiosity. It is intended to be theatrical, poetic, delightful and magical. Integrating, nature, science, art and technology, its normal composition refers to the dynamic and tumultuous weather patterns in South Florida, the gravitational forces present on the earth and throughout the solar system, illustrating the expanding universe and underwater marine life.

back to top

Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services to Receive Completed Artwork
in Fall 2008
Public art projects will add interest to four new facilities being constructed by the Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue Division. The projects include two fire stations - one in West Park and one near the Everglades - and two other facilities that include the Hazmat Training Facility and a combined Airport-Seaport Training Tower. The architectural design is somewhat homogenous throughout all the facilities with minor aesthetic variations that aim to integrate the buildings into their surrounding built environments.

To enhance the visual impact of the buildings for both the daily users and visitors, as well as give the community a sense of pride; the artist team of Ed McGowin and Claudia DeMonte were commissioned by the Broward Cultural Division to create 12 narrative precast stone sculptural arches that use elements integrated into the architectural plans. The narrative representational work lends itself to the buildings, with images from fire safety/rescue heroic activities, and symbolic fire equipment shield images surrounded by the flora and fauna native to Broward County.

Since 1979 Artists Ed McGowin and Claudia DeMonte have executed major outdoor commissions fornumerous public and private organizations, including the United States General Service Administration, the Veterans Administration, the Dallas Rapid Transit Authority, the Percent for Art Program of the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, New Mexico State Arts Council, the Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., and the University of Northern Iowa.
                                                                
Their sculptures are made of durable, permanent materials that reflect and complement the materials of the existing/planned architecture.  The materials have included bronze, stone, terra cotta and crushed obsidian. These large-scale outdoor pieces range in size from 44 tons of cast stone to 300-foot, four-ton cast bronze.

back to top

Tin Ly

Tin Ly Serves as Conference Panelist
Broward Cultural Division Public Art and Design Project Manager Tin Ly served as one of the panelists during the 21st International Sculpture Conference, “Sculpture in Public: Part 2, Public Art”inGrand Rapids, Mich., from October 2-4. The topic of the conference was Shared Responsibility in the Lives of Artworks in the Public Realm. Sharing the panel with Ly were Michele Cohen, program director, Public Art for Public Schools, New York City Department of Education/School Construction Authority, and artist Barry Tinsley. Shelley M. Smith, associate conservator, Intermuseum Conservation Association, Cleveland, served as session chair.

back to top