'Reclamation' Gives Local Materials a Second Life as Art
By: Whitney Hale
As Lexington, the University of Kentucky and other communities across the nation consider renovating and reinvigorating old spaces by reclaiming, reprogramming and revitalizing existing structures and materials, artists in the Bluegrass and beyond have taken leadership roles in finding ways to use abandoned and neglected buildings as exhibition spaces and utilizing reclaimed materials to create their art.
With such a growing interest in reuse, a new art residency and public art exhibition focused on the South Hill district of Lexington and UK hopes to reflect reclamation by asking visiting artists to contribute two new pieces of art to the landscape that responds to the theme "Reclamation" through creative reuse of materials in sculpture.
"Reclamation" gives art graduate students from around the region an opportunity to have work put on display in Lexington and provides the community with new pieces of public art. The program and corresponding exhibition are presented by the UK Department of Art in partnership with the Art Museum at the University of Kentucky, LexArts and the South Hill Group.
"This new program provides graduate-level sculpture students the opportunity to design, construct and display a large scale sculpture in prominent public locations," explained Ben Withers, professor and chair of UK Department of Art.
The two visiting artists selected to participate and exhibit as part of "Reclamation" are graduate students Patrick Toups, of Georgia State University, and William Vannerson, of the University of Kansas. The program brings the two artists to Lexington and UK for three weeks to create and install their winning sculpture submissions. The new sculptures by Toups and Vannerson, "Recover" and "Tractortown Titan," extend a current sculpture path along the Avenue of Champions at UK into Lexington's historic South Hill district. The visiting artists' works will remain on exhibit for approximately six months.
"Recover" by Toups was developed from the artist's studies of mammoth tables and fabricated using reclaimed materials and recycled iron castings around UK. On the "table" area, Toups plans to mount textural cast iron objects. This is meant to highlight a movement in contemporary art foundry culture of groups that actively recover cast iron "scrap" objects and reuse the material giving it a new life.
Vannerson's sculpture "Tractortown Titan" refers to industrial and agricultural implements, searching for life in the cast-offs of a post-industrial society. Created from reclaimed sheet metal and various found materials, it renders a playful yet humorous visual vernacular. Standing 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide by 3 feet deep, the sculpture's form alludes to human interaction.
The "Reclamation" exhibition path begins at the Cigar Flats redevelopment on Lawrence Court and then meanders through the historic district's streets toward the courtyard of CenterCourt. Finally, the exhibition path turns toward the UK campus and travels along the Avenue of Champions, or Euclid Avenue, highlighting work of current UK students alongside and behind the street's various facilities. The path concludes at the sculpture garden at the Art Museum at the University of Kentucky, where the recently installed sculpture "Coal Pot," by internationally renowned artist El Anatsui, is featured.
"We think the exhibit will engage stimulating community conversation which is the focus of our public art projects," said Jim Clark, president and CEO of LexArts.
"It is an exciting time in Lexington. The University of Kentucky is going through major renovation creating new spaces and reprogramming use of old structures," said Clark. "With such a growing interest in reuse, it is time for the public art in Lexington to also reflect reclamation."
Funding for this summer program was made possible through a grant from the Efromyson Foundation secured by the Art Museum at the University of Kentucky. The South Hill Group supplied additional support for the sculpture program and public art exhibition by providing housing for the students and offering site locations for the public to engage.
The public sculpture exhibit for "Reclamation" launches with a reception for the artists and community on the evening of June 19 as part of the Lexington Downtown Gallery Hop.
