Friday, September 16, 2011

Project AWARE - Riverse

Project AWARE stands for A Watershed Awareness River Expedition.  It is volunteers cleaning up rivers, in this case, Iowa rivers.


Last summer I returned to Iowa for a high school reunion where I learned about Project Aware -Riverse.  I was privileged to experience part of the end results through classmate David Williamson.


My friend the poet, the sculptor, the musician was invited to participate by guiding people to create art through recycling, reusing, and reducing metal waste retrieved from Iowa rivers.  By linking to Riverse, you can see what has been accomplished so far.  Be sure to read some of the collaborative  poetry and song lyrics that have been produced over the last seven years as well.


Several of the sculptures were on display in a gallery in Ames, Iowa where I took several photos, which really do not do them justice.


A waterbug's presence denotes high quality water:

The three fingered glove shows the sign for water:

An Iowa river fish....

Two people can sit inside the drop:

Prototypes for sections of the gates at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa:




Under David's guidance I helped cast a canoe paddle grip that is now a part of the finished gates.



                                                                                David Williamson

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Sculpture in the Summer Sunshine

I was inspired by Sandy at Witterings to post some sculpture I saw this past summer in various places outside in the sunshine.




The first group of sculptures are found at the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines, Iowa.




Spider by Louise Bourgeois.  It is a symbol of her beloved mother.








Juno by Debora Butterfield:




    Ancient Forest by Debora Butterfield:






    Five Plate Pentagon by Richard Serra.  It resembles 5 playing cards set up on their sides.






    In the Morning by Anthony Caro:






The next sculpture is found at the Des Moines Art Center in Des Moines, Iowa:


Three Cairns by Andy Goldsworthy:










The last group of sculptures are currently found at the Sierra Azul Nursery in Watsonville, California.  Unfortunately, I was remiss in recording the titles and artists of most of these sculptures.  They are all local Santa Cruz County artists sponsored by the Pajaro Valley Arts Council.




         
This is a 5 panel glass mosaic that can be viewed from either side depending upon where the sun is at a particular time.  It honors the strawberry fields and workers.  It was created by Kathleen Crocetti.