Fort Myers River District Public Art
Public Art Introduction
Among works of public art placed throughout the City of Fort Myers over the years, five exemplary, site-specific artworks have elevated the city’s permanent art collection into world-class status; three of which were installed within the past decade and two that will be installed in 2010. Having such high caliber pubic art by internationally recognized artists in a relatively small city is most unusual and is a strong testimony to the community’s vision and leadership. Even more remarkable is that virtually all five of these public art projects were funded by private developer, corporate, individual contributions, or in one case federal funding, with no local or state public tax dollars used.
David Black, Ohio
“Fire Dance” is the first sculpture commission awarded to an artist by the City’s Public Art committee. David Black was selected from a field of 162 artists who responded to the city’s national call to artists RFQ. This 25’h x 22’w, bright red, painted aluminum sculpture is scheduled to be completed and installed at the Edison Plaza site of Centennial Park in late 2010. David Black’s response to the park’s energy and vitality during events inspired the site-specific sculpture “Fire Dance”.
Renowned for his monumental pavilion-like sculptures which interact with the surrounding environment, David Black has won 35 national and three international sculpture competitions. He recently completed a monumental sculpture commissioned by the U.S. Commission on the Fine Arts for city Vista Plaza in Washington, D.C.
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Marylyn Dintenfass, New York
Dintenfass’s massive public art project “Parallel Park” is in the process of being installed on the exterior walls of the 5-story Lee county Justice Center Parking Garage on Martin Luther King Blvd., the result of an innovative Lee County and City of Fort Myers collaboration. This 30,000 sq. ft. digitized image on Kevlar/fiberglass fabric panel with its circle and linear shapes and patterns metaphorically expresses the spirit of the automobile. Slated for completion by Summer 2010, the project has already achieved major publicity in four internationally distributed fine art magazines. Marylyn Dintenfass was selected as one of 14 artists nationally invited to compete for this commission, as a collaboration between Lee County and the city of Fort Myers, through its Public Art Committee.
Marylyn Dintenfass has completed more than 25 public art commissions throughout the United States and internationally – Italy, Denmark, Israel, Japan. Her paintings and works on paper are collected by major U.S. art museums in New York, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston and the Smithsonian.
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Barbara Jo Revelle, Florida
A large sepia-toned mural titled “Fort Myers: An Alternative History”, was commissioned by the General Services Administration, Washington, D.C. for the federal courthouse building and is located in the courtyard on First Street between Monroe and Broadway. Using digital print technologies that were new in the 1990’s, Barbara Jo Revelle incorporated historical photographs depicting the rich history of Fort Myers and transferred them onto ceramic mosaic tile.
Barbara Jo Revelle has exhibited nationally and internationally in over 35 solo shows in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Japan. Her work is owned by 41 public collections in the U.S. and abroad including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the International Museum of Photography, NY; Bibliotheque National in Paris; Eikoh Hosoe Collection in Tokyo; Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm; National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Revelle is Professor and the Director of the Photography Department at the University of Florida.
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Albert Paley, New York
Paley’s 30’ tall, colorfull, polychromed steel sculpture “Naiad” was commissioned by the Riviera Development Group and installed in 2009 at the front entrance of the St. Tropez/Riviera Condominium Complex on E. First Street, Ft. Myers. This was the first public art project funded by a private developer through the city’s public art fund initiative which encourages developers to commission art for their buildings or contribute funds to the city’s public art fund. Paley’s impressive e career spans thirty years.
He has completed more than 60 major site-specific works, for museums and corporations, notably the Smithsonian in D.C., N.Y. State Senate Chambers and AT&T. His work is found in museum collection in New York, Boston, London, and Australia.
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Jim Sanborn, Maryland
Sanborn’s sculpture “Caloosahatchee Manuscripts”, a gift to the city from Florida Power & Light in 2001, was commissioned for the front entrance of what is now the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center on First Street, between Lee and Jackson. Two large, lighted bronze cylinders illuminate and magnify text using botanical names of plants used in Thomas Edison’s experiments and Native American Maskoki (Creek) migration story onto the surrounding urban landscape. This work is an example of how public art can successfully enhance a space and provide viewers with a unique way to learn about the city’s rich historic heritage.
Jim Sanborn’s artistic career spans more than three decades with works commissioned by federal agencies such as Central Intelligence Agency, and NOAA; prestigious art museums such as the Hirshhorn, Corcoran, High Museum and Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the United States, as well as projects for China and Japan.
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