"C-U at the Movies" ...a Sculpture to Honor a Hometown Hero

Fifteen years ago, Urbana native and University of Illinois alum Roger Ebert started a film festival in Champaign-Urbana to share his love of film with the community, and share his community with those who loved film.  His passing was a great loss to all of those fortunate enough to have known him, but his memory lives on through his friends and family, the work of his wife Chaz, and the continuation of Ebertfest.  Today, Scott Anderson announced the kick-off of a new tribute to the hometown hero.
    
As head of the Roger Ebert Sculpture fundraising campaign, Scott Anderson presented its mission to commission and install a life-size bronze sculpture of Roger Ebert on the plaza outside the historic Virginia Theater, home of Ebertfest.  This fundraising campaign offers the citizens of our communities and movie fans everywhere an opportunity to share in celebrating Roger Ebert's contribution to the movie industry, the culture of Champaign-Urbana and some of the joy we have experienced in our own lives while watching films.  The sculpture will be a permanent memorial which will honor Ebert for both his career and his dedication to his roots. It will also honor him for his determination to press forward with Ebertfest in the face of huge medical challenges.

The sculpture will be created by artist Rick Harney of Bloomington, Illinois. It will be made of bronze and will be life size. It will depict Roger Ebert sitting in the middle of three theater seats displaying his signature "thumbs up" gesture.  Roger’s widow, Chaz Ebert, was unable to attend the press conference due to a scheduling conflict, however she has selected the composition of the sculpture and is providing the artist input to enable him to depict Roger at the stage of his life which she desires.

Many people and entities are contributing to this sculpture effort. These include the cities of Champaign and Urbana, the College of Media of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Champaign Park District, the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois, and the Public Art League.  Together, they are hoping to raise approximately $125,000 for the commissioning, building, and installation of this sculpture.
 
One can make donations directly to the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois or through the web site: Ebertsculpture.org. The web site has more information concerning the formulation of the idea, Roger Ebert’s career, the artist’s bio, the sculpture itself and how to donate.

Support PAL at Upcoming Gemshow Roundtables!

A unique opportunity to support PAL while enjoying an evening out. Christopher's Fine Jewelry Design has graciously offered to donate $15 for every person who attends their upcoming Gemshow Roundtable to PAL. In addition, they will donate 10% of the sale price of all gems purchased by PAL supporters (just let them know that you would like your purchase to support PAL).

If you've never enjoyed this unique event before, here's what you can expect. Gem dealers from around the country are invited to bring their collection to a dinner party setting at Christopher's. On September 5-7,  Sherris Shank , a renowned gem carver, will bring over 200 carved, colored gemstones. You and a limited number of guests will be escorted to the gem room where the table will be set with flowers and refreshments. Each stone will be passed around the table allowing you to handle each and, if you love it, keep it at your place setting. At the end of the evening you will have the opportunity to purchase stones directly from the dealer and Christopher can do a quick sketch to show you how the stones might be incorporated into a custom piece of jewelry.

Shows last approximately 3 hours and there is no pressure to buy. The only expectation is that you have fun.

The cost for this special event is $15 and reservations are required. Call the store at 352-2415 and let them know which show you would like to attend and how many people you are bringing. Also, let them know you heard about this from PAL. This is a great date night or girls night out!

Shows are:
Thursday, September 5 at 6 PM
Friday, September 6 at  6  PM
and Saturday afternoon at 1 PM

The Shield of Chichen Itza Installed in Morrissey Park

Public Art League is proud to announce the installation of The Shield of Chichen Itza, a sculpture by James K. Johnson.  The sculpture was installed, with assistance from the Champaign Park District, on Wednesday, August 28^th in Morrissey Park, 1400 Windsor Road, Champaign.  The Shield of Chichen Itza represents the 34^th sculpture Public Art League has brought to the community, and its installation is possible thanks to the generous support of the Champaign Parks Foundation.

James K. Johnson, the sculptor of The Shield of Chichen Itza, is the former Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Eastern Illinois University.  He has received six grants from state and local institutions to develop glassblowing and bronze casting facilities and was selected as one of five sculptors to participate in a research project at the University of Costa Rica.  As an artist, he has participated in over 60 regional and national juried and invitational exhibitions, and completed numerous large scale outdoor sculptures in aluminum and cor-ten steel on exhibit in Kansas, Illinois, Arkansas, and Indiana.

In describing The Shield of Chichen Itza, Johnson states, “As a sculptor, I have always been concerned with creating works of art that cause the viewer to pause and reflect upon their surroundings and in doing so become more aware of the environment that they are passing through.   Each work of art that I have designed and fabricated is a reflection of past experiences that have shaped my life and the interest that I have in ancient cultures, especially the Mayans that used art as a means of understanding their place in the history of mankind.  Equally important has been my use of the arch as a means of transforming the viewer from a place and time of activity to one of calm and reflection.”

Sunder Planet Discovered!

The Public Art League is proud to announce the installation of Sunder Planet, a sculpture by Stephen Luecking of Chicago.  The sculpture was installed in the planter bed in the Orpheum Children’s Museum's parking plaza in downtown Champaign.  Sunder Planet represents the 33^rd sculpture the Public Art League has brought to the community, and its installation is possible thanks to the generous support of The Robeson Family Benefit Fund.

Stephen Luecking, the sculptor behind Sunder Planet, is a Professor at DePaul University’s School of Computing and spent 25 years in DePaul’s Department of Art and Art History.  During that time, he participated in nearly 150 exhibits, 20 of which were one-person shows.  He is the author of several articles, essays, and reviews which have appeared in national and international art journals, as well as the book Principles of Three-Dimensional Design: Objects, Space and Meaning.

With Sunder Planet, Luecking demonstrates “mathematical art”.  Instead of using the elegant symmetries of spherical polyhedrons to create a closed surface, he has made simple adjustments in the proportions of the polyhedrons to create a piece that breaks the symmetry and creates interacting masses and voids.  Yet at the same time, the piece retains much of the symmetry’s original appeal.

Storm Drain Murals – Calling Artists!

The Public Art League (PAL), the Champaign County Design & Conservation Foundation (CCDC), the City of Champaign, Illinois and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, are seeking artists to create storm drain murals in our community. Selected artists will create stormwater themed murals adjacent to storm sewer inlets in order to raise awareness about stormwater management in an urban setting.

The mural themes will incorporate and illustrate principals of stormwater management. The murals must also consider and reflect multi-cultural, kid friendly, colorful, funky, and international melting pot characteristics. As public art works, we encourage designs with an exciting, vibrant, and energetic nature.


Additional information and the 2013 Storm Drain Mural Entry form can be found here.  The deadline for submission of entries is Saturday, August 10 at 5pm (central).

2013 Finalists Unveiled!

The Public Art League received 55 fantastic entries from all over the world (from as far as Austria and China) in response to the 2013 Call to Artists.  Of the entries, our advisory Jury panel selected 12 that we hope to bring to Champaign-Urbana this year.

This year's finalists are:

 “Ascend the Wind”

  by Michael Helbing,  (Berwyn, IL)

  Height:  15’,  Width:  11’,  Depth:  5’,  Weight:  350lbs,  Materials:  Stainless Steel

  “The Shield of Chichen Itza”

  by James K. Johnson,  (Charleston, IL)

  Height:  10’4”,  Width:  5’8”,  Depth:  18”,  Weight:  1200lbs,  Materials:  Cor-Ten Steel

  “Uppercutted”

  by Ted Sitting Crow Garner,  (Chicago, IL)

  Height:  12’9”, Width:  4’6”,  Depth:  5’10”,  Weight:  750lbs,  Materials:  Painted, Welded Steel

  “Stanchion”

  by Dan Perry,  (Waterloo, IA)

  Height:  8’7”,  Width:  6’,  Depth:  3’4”,  Weight:  300lbs,  Materials:  Painted Mild Steel, Industrial Enamel

  “Sunder Planet”

  by Stephen Luecking,  (Chicago, IL)

  Height:  94”,  Width:  94”,  Depth:  94”
Materials:  Painted Wood

  “Tic Tac Toe Bench”

  by Benson Sculpture, LLC,  (Jackson, TN)

  Height:  8’, Width:  8’, Depth:  8’, Weight:  250lbs,  Materials:  Kiln Dried Yellow Pine

  “The Statue of Yong 2/100 – Evil Mind”

  by Jeong Yong Choi “Yong”,  (Chicago, IL)

  Height:  72”, Width:  60”
Depth:  37.5”, Weight:  700lbs

Materials:  Bronze, Steel, Artificial Grass

 “Reclamation Tower”

  by Michael Collins,  (Longview, IL)

  Height:  16',  Width:  4’,  Depth:  4’,  Weight:  400lbs

Materials:  Wood, Steel Copper, Aluminum

The following sculptures were sponsored at the 2013 Unveiling Party.  We look forward to meeting them soon!

  “Glory Pipes 2.0”      **SPONSORED**

  by Stephen Fairfield,  (Saint David, AZ)

  Height:  18’,  Width:  10’ (top)
Depth:  4’ (square),  Weight:  500lbs

  Materials:  Aluminum, Steel, LEDs, Electronics

  “Circle of Friends”   **SPONSORED**

  by Karen Crain,  (Littleton, CO)

  Height:  47”,  Width:  40”,  Depth:  20”
Weight:  450lbs,  Materials:  Bronze

  “Fettle”     **SPONSORED**

  by Luke Achterberg  (Lexington, KY)

  Height:  128”,  Width:  58”,  Depth:  40”
Weight:  350lbs,  Materials:  Paint on Steel

  “It’s a MisTree”     **SPONSORED**

  by Michael Helbing,  (Berwyn, IL)

  Height:  15’, Width:  6’, Depth:  11’
Weight:  250-300lbs, Materials:  Stainless Steel

The Public Art League now needs your help to bring all of these incredible sculptures to the community.  A bronze sponsorship of $2,000 will allow PAL to lease a sculpture for two years and have it installed for the public to enjoy.  There are also many other sponsorship possibilities and ways you can support the program (sponsorship).  Please contact us if you have an interest in helping bring more great public art to C-U!

2013 Sculpture Unveiling

Wednesday, June 19 - 5:30p - 7:00p The Fireplace Room @ Big Grove Tavern One Main Street, Downtown Champaign Join us on Wednesday, June 19 from 5:30 - 7:00p at Big Grove Tavern as we unveil the sculptures that could make their way to Champaign-Urbana this year!  Artists from all over the country have submitted their entries and you will have a chance to see the wonderful pieces that have been selected for installation. Please join us for this exciting evening! Wine, beer and hors d'oeurves provided Please RSVP by June 14 to whitney.wheatman@gmail.com Thank you to our generous sponsors: The Barham Benefit Group and The Robeson Family Benefit Fund