Artist
I designed this sculpture to be produced by the metal fabrication students at IVY Tech. I started by fabricating a “pattern” out of several pieces of plywood.
Using the materials they had on hand, the metal fabrication class at Ivy Tech here in Lafayette used the plywood shapes as a template and cut the shapes out of Aluminum panels. We mounted them onto the four steel posts.
Artists Sunny Miller and Linda Vanderkolk’s, bison will be displayed on North 9th Street Road in front of Undercover Storage. Miller and Vanderkolk took a “native” approach for their theme and went with the Miami Tribe name Lenaswa meaning Bison. The Miami Tribe extended their cultural roots deep into the soil of the Wabash River Valley, hunting, cultivating, fishing, cooking, building, trading and sharing wisdom to sustain their communities.
via Indiana Bicentennial Tippecanoe County committee
My Tea Party piece features as the cover photo for the article about Installation Nation moving to the Indianapolis Art Center.
Dog Days of Summer sculptures hit streets of Greater Lafayette
– via Lafayette-Online
By Christy Jones, Purdue University News Service
Posted May 6, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Ranging from artistic to scientific, life-size decorated dog statues are popping up throughout the Greater Lafayette area as part of the Dog Days of Summer art project.
The project, which officially opens on Saturday (May 9), is a partnership between the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine and the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette. It highlights the 50th anniversary of the School of Veterinary Medicine and the 100th anniversary of the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette, both of which are being celebrated this year.
I was a grad student during my first large public work. It was designed for a commission won in 1991 to commemorate the 145th continuing year of the Farmer’s Market location at 5th & Main Street, in Lafayette, IN. My sculpture sketch was selected and funded by the Friends of the Downtown (by community donations raised), to help revive & beautify the downtown. A selection committee quote: “We saw apples and oranges, but went bananas!” The three life-sized figures represent a farm family (man, woman and child) presenting their goods at our historic Farmer’s Market. With Roy’s welding expertise, area-farm knowledge, barn space and a flatbed wagon to lay my palette of figurative parts out on, I was eventually able to hold each piece perfectly in place for him to weld. For this design, I especially sought to create a public artwork that would be appreciated by farmers in appreciation of them, as well as my community-at-large. The sculpture’s double-entendre title sought to bring our community and nation’s slow demise of family farms to the forefront of our community’s consciousness. My own great grandparents first settled here as a farming family. Providing an educational source (when parts recognized from earlier times are identified or start stories by old-timers to a younger generation) can often be overheard at the sculpture, as I had hoped would be the case. This sculpture has become a community favorite, often being dressed, holding signs, or decorated for various holidays (by unknown others or me). When new, I’d designed the sculpture with many hidden (but still movable) parts, a pun or two (‘green thumb’ gardening claw), and a healthful community warning (Shields are for Your Protection: Keep Them in Place) appropriately doing double-duty as the child’s shorts. Since this sculpture’s installation, the Farmer’s Market has continued to grow stronger and is flouring today.
– Indiana’s oldest farmer’s market – – in continuous operation since 1839 at the same location in downtown Lafayette.
– I knew Roy from country dancing in 70-80’s. By 90’s he’d welded small animals from 4-5 found objects. Has now retired to Charles St., Laf.
– To interested viewers, I sometimes share the little-known secret that ‘art lovers can make the child’s head turn’ when they pass by.
– A story, with photo (by……) of Roy and I appeared in the Lafayette Leader while we were working on it won a photography prize. (date …?)
– Someone anonymously mailed me a clipping of a photo & blurb of my sculpture in the National Enquirer (undated, year …..?).
– Photo below by Dave Umbarger of how it looked in the early years, with pavers I placed to encourage movement & sound interactions with it.
– Changes: Street islands remodeled, trees & lights added, sign moved; In 2016, encroaching trees cut back & new lights, words in crosswalk. A few things have been bent (flowers), broken (‘Wheat’ & ‘Oat’ pockets), rusted crookedly (pie), or fallen off (horseshoe pocket on rump), etc.
– Personal references included: Roy’s beard; my bun. A photo by my sister Kathy shows Roy and I installing the sign (to not block sculptures).
– Listed on Wikipedia (was part of a national census to identify public sculptures in America)
RoadsideAmerica tip for Farm Family Sculpture:http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/24301