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Description:
In a collaborative effort with the community, the benches
were covered with a mosaic of handmade and hand-glazed tiles created
by students from Connolly, Fees, Gililland and McKemy schools. These
tiles, which featured personal imagery and designs influenced by the
visual and performing arts and images of the environment of the city
of Tempe, were edited, dried, fired, glazed, refired, applied and
grouted by the artist.
Funding:
The project was funded through city of Tempe Capital Improvement
Project Percent for Art funds.
Artist biography:
Ron Gasowski is a Professor Emeritus of Art at Arizona State
University, currently teaching in the areas of intermedia and the
core foundations program. His mixed media graphics and sculpture
have been exhibited in museums and galleries in the United States,
Canada, Europe, South America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Korea
and Japan. More than 25 solo exhibitions and 100 group shows include
traveling exhibits organized by the Portland (Oregon) Museum of Art,
the Mississippi Museum of Art, Colorado State University Museum of
Art and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. The bulk of his public
art projects have been community-based involving more than 1,000
local students.
Artist statement:
The Twelve Purple Benches are site specific, designed to
provide comfortable seating without impeding the flow of pedestrian
traffic within the plaza environment. The simple geometry of this
project respectfully integrates into the public space, while the
visual impact of the community-based mosaic artwork unifies the
benches with the environmental color of the surrounding space.
The Tempe public art program is managed by city
of Tempe Cultural Services staff
with input from the Tempe Municipal Arts Commission, a 15-member,
mayor-appointed advisory board.
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