Fort Collins Art In Public Places Board Meetings

December 18th, 2007 admin

I have been planning to attend an Art in Public Places board meeting for the past couple of months. I was going to do this so I could report to you, my ever faithful readers, what is discussed at those meetings. The website states that the meetings are the 3rd Wednesday of every month. But yet again they have canceled the meeting on the 19th because they already had it on the 12th. This has happened the past couple of months and is quite frustrating. How do you cancel a meeting and have it before the appointed time? Maybe they are trying to hide something? After all they are spending a lot of our tax payer dollars.

Click here to see the boards web page. I will keep trying so we can all learn what goes on in those meetings. And yes I have emailed them using the contact information posted on the site and I have yet to receive a response.

Posted in Art, Fort Collins, Public Places | 1 Comment »

2008 Pedestrian Paver Project

December 17th, 2007 admin

Between the ages of 3 and 18? Interested in having your work be a small part of the Fort Collins landscape? Then you might be interested in this project…

Project: The City’s Transportation Department works to provide safe pedestrian access by creating new pedestrian routes as well as improving existing areas. The City requests black & white line drawings, either representational or abstract concepts, demonstrating a transportation theme, or life in Fort Collins. The winning designs will be sandblasted into granite pavers and placed in various sidewalks. The artwork will be a signature piece in Fort Collins and be highly visible to the public.

Submission Deadline: Must be received by 5 p.m. on January 7, 2008

 Click here for the pdf application.

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Pods and Blooms from Brooklyn

September 4th, 2007 admin

You may have noticed some recent growth on the side of Prospect Road on your way to I-25. The sculptures are entitled “Pods and Blooms” and they are part of the Fort Collins Art in Public Places.

The pieces were created by May & Watkins Design from Brooklyn, New York. And judging from their web site it seems May & Watkins is some sort of public art factory, not much personality to the “biography.” You can find it here.

The large size of the pieces work well  close to a road such as Prospect as I am sure most viewers will be checking the sculptures out at 45 miles an hour. Up close and at a stand still the pieces are very simple with little detail and a fast coat of paint. I took a few shots during a recent bike ride. (see below)

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Watermelon Slices

July 28th, 2007 admin

Have you seen the giant Watermelon Slices out at Cottonwood Glen Park? The sculpture is part of Fort Collins Art in Public Places program. The two large steel pieces almost look lonely sitting by themselves at a distance from the playground. But you got to love their simplicity.

The artist is Christopher Weed and he is from Colorado Springs. This is his statement for the Watermelon Slices:

“After learning about the farming history of Fort Collins, Colorado, I was inspired to create an abstract sculpture that the modern mind can connect with the enduring past. It was important to me that this piece addresses the rich and diligent history of Fort Collins’ farming community while maintaining a light-hearted and uplifting sense of spirit. I was able to take a colossal part of farming history and create a timeless sculpture that the community can reflect upon and enjoy for years to come. The final result is a playful, creative, and thought-provoking sculpture. The choice to place the identical pieces at different angles from one another achieves a precarious balance, adding a sense of perpetual motion to the sculpture and provides a unique sighting of the piece from both entrances. Offering 360-degree viewing, the industrial steel rivets in place of the seeds and is inviting to touch. This creates a tactile relationship between object and viewer. It is important that the artist not fill in all the blanks, thus leaving something to the imagination. The piece I created reflects the spirit and nature of Fort Collins’ history and the strong community- young and old alike.”

If you want to see them for yourself and do not know where Cottonwood Glen Park is just take Overland Trail south until it dead ends into a parking lot. That is the park.

You can see more of Chris’s work at his web site www.chrisweed.com

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