The Bain Project

The Bain Project was a site specific artwork created in the deserted and decommissioned waterworks plant south of downtown Raleigh. In the late 1930s, as Raleigh was growing, the city built a new plant to handle the water needs of the area. Here’s a link to historic information about the Bain Waterworks. This artwork project combined found objects in the plant, organic materials like branches and grass with a deteriorating industrial building. I was more interested in photographing the aging machinery and peeling paint than in the artwork, but some it made interesting photographs.

Here are the rest of my photos on Flickr and here are photos from other local photographers.

One of the most creative endeavors was a musical piece played by creating sounds on the building itself. A plant buzzer sounded, and a corps of white-coated employees marched down the main aisle and took their positions in the water holding tanks. They proceeded to shake, shudder and pound out the sounds of a working plant. Here’s some video of the piece.

BMW Paints a Picture

BMW has a long history of art cars, but this may be the first time they have commissioned an artist to paint with a car, rather than on a car. South African artist Robin Rhode used a BMW Z4 roadster to apply paint to a 30 by 40 foot canvas that will be on display in NYC’s Grand Central Station. He developed a different style for each color, and each style referenced another contemporary artist. He used remote control jets near the wheels to spray the paint on the canvas. The whole process from conception to artwork was captured for a series of videos on the microsite, Expressions of Joy, and a complete documentary will be on the Discovery Channel. Art patronage still matters.

Convention Center Features Sir Walter Gnome Out Front

This weekend, the new downtown Raleigh Convention Center opened to much celebration. This modern, well-designed, LEED-certified, $221 million (;) Ginny) building features a brass garden gnome out front in the shape of Sir Walter Raleigh.

David Byrne Playing the Building

David Byrne’s latest project, Playing the Building, is the conversion of the Battery Maritime Building in New York into a musical instrument.

Playing the building is a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices do not produce sound themselves, but they cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument.

Chapel Hill Announces New Public Arts Administrator

Today the Town Manager of Chapel Hill announced the new position of Public Arts Administrator. This position will lead the Percent for Art program and other public art initiatives. This role had been handled by the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission, and its staff. While I was chair of the commission several years, the former Town Manager asked us, a volunteer board with paid staff, to incorporate as 501c3 non-profit rather than become part of the town, as we recommended. Now under a new Town Manager, a new town position is created to serve this function. I understand there may now be two public art boards: a town commission and a board of the non-profit for fund-raising.

By the way, Jeff York, the new administrator, is a great guy and will do a great job in his new position.

Here’s the press release from the Town of Chapel Hill website:

Town Manager Roger L. Stancil announced his decision today (Thursday, April 24) to appoint Jeffrey York, director of public art and community design for the NC Arts Council, as the new public arts administrator for the Town of Chapel Hill. He is scheduled to start on June 15.

“Chapel Hill has a broad range of public art programs that involve residents in creating, viewing and talking about art and that place temporary and permanent art works throughout the Town.” Stancil said. “Jeffrey is the ideal person to work with the Town and its Public Arts Advisory Commission. He will facilitate the transition of the public art staff to Town staff and current independent board to an advisory role. Our goal is to integrate public art into the context of what the Town does every day.”

“We appreciate the Manager’s determination to appoint someone with the mix of skills, experience and vision needed to build successfully on Chapel Hill’s thriving public art program,” said Frank Webb, chair of the Public Arts Commission. “We all look forward to working with Jeffrey in his (and our) new role.”

As public art and community design director for the Raleigh-based North Carolina Arts Council, York facilitated public art and cultural facility design activities and processes to communities statewide. He initiated a public art in the schools residency program and maintained an 86-piece public art collection located throughout North Carolina.

Previously, York was executive director of the Art Museum of Southeast Texas in Beaumont and education director at the Birmingham (Ala.) Museum of Art. He also was education curator and assistant curator for the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, N.Y. He has two master’s degrees, in the history of art from Ohio State University and in library science and information studies from Syracuse University.

“Chapel Hill offers a receptive environment to develop a model public art program in North Carolina and beyond,” York said. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with town staff and the community to build such a program.”

The Chapel Hill Town Council in March 2002 established the Town’s Percent for Art Ordinance, which allocates 1 percent of selected capital projects for the creation and maintenance of permanent works of public art. Funding for Percent for Art projects comes from each selected project’s construction budget. In North Carolina, the only other cities with percent-for-art programs are Asheville and Charlotte.

Books Make the Library

from Deputy Dog blog:

Cardiff

Kansas City

Peace and Justice Monument

from Town of Chapel Hill Email List:

The Chapel Hill Town Council supported a Council Naming Committee recommendation to physically mark the space in front of the Old Post Office on Franklin Street as “Peace and Justice Plaza.” A granite marker will be erected at the base of the flagpole. The marker will include a quote from Benjamin Franklin: “There was never a good war or a bad peace,” and the names of three local civil justice activists (Alice Adams, Joe Straley and Lucy Straley), with room left on the monument for the addition of future names.

PaperAirplanes overhead in Cleveland Airport

Chapel Hill Ranks as Top Art Destination

from Town of Chapel Hill mailing list:

Chapel Hill ranks as one of the nation’s top arts destinations. A recent American Style magazine poll places it 13th on the list of top small cities for the arts.

Chapel Hill was one of three North Carolina cities to make the magazine’s list published in the June 2007 issue. American Style ranks the top 25 arts destinations in three categories: big cities (populations above of 500,000 and up), mid-sized (100,000 to 499,999) and small (under 100,000). Asheville is fifth on the small cities list, and Charlotte ranks 18th among big cities.

The Chapel Hill Town Council in March 2002 established the Town’s Percent for Art Ordinance, which allocates 1 percent of selected capital projects for the creation and maintenance of permanent works of public art. Funding for Percent for Art projects comes from each project’s construction budget, which can include federal, state, county, town, and private support. In North Carolina, the only other cities with percent-for-art programs are Asheville and Charlotte.

“Public art enriches our lives and helps define the unique and special qualities of Chapel Hill,” said Mayor Kevin Foy.

Percent for Art commissions are administered by the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission. Chapel Hill’s growing indoor and outdoor public art collection totals over 50 works of art in a variety of media. This art collection has been assembled over the years through private donations and commissions.

Recently installed public art pieces, valued at $420,000, are a semi-circular 30 foot long stone wall and a 40-foot marble bench outside the new Town Operations Center. The works were crafted by artist Larry Kirkland of Washington, D.C.