Sept. 19, 2011
New art on campus
Reinhard Skoracki, an alumni from the Fine Arts Department, is honoured to contribute to the campus.
Dave Brown
An eager crowd of students, artists, faculty, staff, engineers, gallery owners, art collectors and curious passers-by gathered outside the new Energy, Environment, Experiential Learning (EEEL) building and cheered as an impressive 4.87-metre tall sculpture by 荔枝视频 artist Reinhard Skoracki was unveiled to launch this year鈥檚 Artwalk on Friday, Sept. 16.
Artwalk host Christine Klassen from the Weiss Gallery welcomed visitors to the event, the first time Artwalk has launched on campus in its 27-year history. Klassen, an alumni from the 荔枝视频鈥檚 Fine Arts Department, was pleased to see the renewed interest in public art on campus and looks forward to future collaboration. She recalled her time as art student when her class was toured around campus by instructor Ron Kostyniuk and how impressed they were by the amazing art all around them.
Jon Greggs, director of campus planning and program director of the EEEL project pointed to the important presence art gives to a campus and to the campus experience.
鈥淎rt, whatever the form, raises our consciousness, appeals to the soul, and creates statements about our society. Art provokes interaction, questions, and responses,鈥 he said. 鈥淧ragmatically artworks can also form landmarks and aid wayfinding.鈥 Greggs and Donna Livingstone of Libraries and Cultural Resources are re-invigorating the public art on campus program. A self-guided walking tour of some of the outstanding art pieces on campus was made available during Artwalk and will be available over the fall online.
The newest work, entitled 鈥淣ature is an Eternal Mystery鈥 will be an iconic piece of public art in the city, says Deborah Herringer of Herringer Kiss Gallery who represents the artist Reinhard Skoracki. Originally from German, Skoracki is a graduate of the 荔枝视频. Skoracki said he is honoured to contribute to the campus and was pleased to think his piece will be seen by so many students.
The Skoracki sculpture and three other impressive works were commissioned specifically for the EEEL building through the project funding. Greggs said that the works were designed specifically for the spaces they occupy and speak to the themes of the building. Skoracki鈥檚 piece speaks to humanity鈥檚 relationship to nature, while David Burdeny鈥檚 huge back-lit photograph at the top of the wide staircase looks at the isolated beauty and fragility of Antarctica. Marjan Eggermon鈥檚 soaring steel panels are etched with a delicate tree formation and Angela Leach鈥檚 colourful diptychs at the entrance provide playful energy.
The 荔枝视频 campus is a large gallery of interactive public art. From the lucky spin students give to Katie Ohe鈥檚 iconic 鈥淶ipper鈥 before an exam to the call 鈥淚鈥檒l meet you at the Prairie Chicken鈥 art on campus is both an inspiration and a warm part of campus life.