The City of Dubuque, Iowa, announces the opening of the 2010-2011 Art on the River Exhibition on Thursday, July 15, at 5:00 p.m. at the Grand River Center at the Port of Dubuque.
DUBUQUE, Iowa – The City of Dubuque, Iowa, announces the opening of the 2010-2011 Art on the River Exhibition. In its fifth year, the temporary outdoor sculpture display drew 100 entries from 18 different states and one foreign country.
The 2010 Opening Celebration will be held on Thursday, July 15, at 5:00 p.m. at the Grand River Center. New this year will be the presentation of a $1,000 cash award for the Best of Show, chosen by panel of three jurists. There will be a brief program, the opportunity to visit with the artists and jury, and a walking tour of the exhibit. The celebration will feature hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. The public is invited to attend.
Despite the international range of entrants this year, five of the ten selected artists are from Iowa, a testament to the quality of art professions working within the state. All sculptures were chosen for this highly competitive exhibit through a blind judging process.
• A Biker’s Day of Fishing by Jason Messier of Iowa City, IA, was created to blend the world of art with fishing, motorcycles, and the abundant dragonfly.
• Leaf Stack by Nicholas Legeros of Minneapolis, MN, is a playful metaphor for children playing in piles of leaves, raking them together to form chairs.
• Public Prayer Booth by Dylan Mortimer of Kansas City, MO, plays on the traditional public phone booth but adds a spiritual element.
• Oneota Flow by Skip Willits, Camanche, IA, is constructed from steel and willow sticks harvested from the river’s shore after they have been cleaned and sculpted by beavers.
• Daredevil by Robert Craig of Des Moines, IA, a large fabricated steel work, painted bright red, patterned on industrial objects.
• Dapple I and Dapple II by Victoria Reed of Cedar Falls, IA, representing two grazing horses, both delicate and massive at the same time.
• Balance by Kristy Summers of Carbondale, IL, a cast iron, wood and steel work that welcomes viewers to examine their own inner balance.
• The Long Toss by John Anderson-Bricker of Dubuque, IA, is a playful, pop art nod to the communal summer activity of Bocce ball and other lawn games.
• The White Rabbit by Marisa Dipaola of Vernon, VT, is an illuminated sculpture of found objects that brings to life the stories of Lewis Carroll.
• I Fly, You Fly by Lisa Marie Evans of Tucson, AZ, is a colorful and interactive sculpture creating the illusion of an animation.
Jurists for 2010 exhibit are: Isabel Barbuzza, Associate Professor of Sculpture, The University of Iowa School of Art and Art History and Studio Arts and a working artist, living in Iowa City and working also in Argentina; Bill Farrell, former Professor of Ceramics at School of the Art Institute of Chicago for 35 years, now retired and a working artist in Galena, IL; and Amy Mangrich, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Visual Art, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and co-founder of IN:SITE, an organization promoting temporary public art in Milwaukee, WI.
The artists are given a stipend for displaying their work for a year. All of the pieces are for sale but must stay in the exhibit through June 2011.
Art on the River is part of the Dubuque City Council’s Arts and Culture initiative. Working in conjunction with the Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission, the Dubuque Museum of Art and a volunteer committee made up of artists, educators and city staff, the City has identified highly visible locations at the Port of Dubuque to display selected artwork for a temporary exhibit that changes each year. The Port of Dubuque is a 90-acre riverfront campus which features the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, Grand River Center conference center, Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark, Diamond Jo Casino, historic Dubuque Star Brewery, and Dubuque Shot Tower.
For additional information, please visit www.cityofdubuque.org/artontheriver or contact Jan Stoffel, Arts and Cultural Affairs Coordinator, at 563-690-6064 or 563-589-4110 or at janstoff@cityofdubuque.org.