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Section IV

Location: Section IV

Kevin Casey – Coalesce

Media: Stainless Steel, Steel

Stainless Steel

Artist Statement:

Artist, Kevin Casey, grew up with little or no exposure to the arts until he attended college. His artworks have been displayed throughout Iowa and Illinois. This sculpture, “Coalesce”, was designed using a CAD program. The stainless steel was cut using a plasma cutter. The various components were welded and the surface effect is achieved by implementing a high-powered grinder.

Although his work is not indicative of any particular issue or theme, it inherently deals with dynamics, movement and perspective. When observed from different angles, the sculpture looks vastly different from each point of view. He enjoys the reaction of others to his work.

Section I

Location: Section I

Dale Graham – Trunnion II

Media: Aluminum

Kentucky-based sculptor Dale Graham uses his background in mathematics and engineering to create sculptures that make us aware of the principles governing the creation of structures and bridges. This aluminum sculpture features a trunnion, a cylindrical pin like that on a cannon that forms the axis on which it pivots, a device also used in bridge design. Graham chose to use lightweight aluminum instead of heavy steel so that his sculpture could be more easily transported from place to place.  He burnished the surface of the sculpture so that it reflects light in irregular patterns adding to the “lightness” of the piece.

This sculpture has been donated to the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park by the artist and is now part of the Park’s permanent collection.

Audio notes

Location: Section IV

Ruth Aizuss Migdal — La Diva I

Media: Painted Steel, Steel

A triptych of a curvaceous woman in a beautiful red dress. Ruth sees her moving and captures several instances of a dance or a swirl. Much like a sports or fashion photographer strives to capture each movement, the three separate pieces of this work catch the enticing moves of “La Diva”.

Location: Section I

Robert Smart – La Souterraine

Media: Cast Iron, Steel

La Souterraine is the name of a small village in France that held an arts festival in which the artist participated. Smart asked some citizens to volunteer to have life casts made of their faces. He tape recorded interviews and took photographs. The sixteen cast iron faces, set atop steel posts grouped in twos and threes, vary by sex, age, and expression. To the artist these faces are merely an indelible memory of a shared event.

 

Location: Section I

John Parker – Gargoyle

Media: Steel, Welded Steel

Pennsylvania sculptor Parker created “Gargoyle” to be “the gatekeeper of the park.” The sculpture reflects his interest in insects, dinosaurs and exotic flowers. By combining “nature with steel,” he gives a “heavy industrial material a loving animated presence.” The sculpture is made of weathered steel plate, cut, bent and bolted together.

Location: Section IV

Jamie Barber – Reaper

Media: Found Objects, Steel, Welded Steel

Welded Steel and Found Objects

The artist created this alien creature-like object out of materials found in salvage yards. The pieces of sheet metal were welded over a substructure of metal tubing. The artist views the sculpture as an object “from a past war” or something “found at the bottom of the ocean.” He means for it to feel threatening, fearsome. He is interested in anxieties and how they direct our thinking.

This sculpture, donated by the artist, is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section I

Joseph Eisenhauer – Revival

Media: Painted Steel, Steel

This large-scale abstract sculpture consists of steel that has been cut, welded, bolted, and painted. Eisenhauer wants to communicate with the viewer through line, shape, and form. He arranged the steel pieces together to create straight, curved, and jagged lines. When combined, these lines form asymmetrically balanced geometric and architectural shapes that seem to reach out into space.

As of 2018, this sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section IV

Mary Cooke – Rite of Passage

Media: Glass, Steel

Steel and Glass

Cooke arranged steel plates at angles to each other to create the lower portion of the sculpture.  A curving, welded steel armature rises from this base and arches through space. Panels of stained glass inserted into two areas of the web-like armature encourage viewing the sculpture from several different points of view.

Artist’s Website

Location: Section I

Barbara Goldsmith – Spread My Wings

Media: Concrete, glazed concrete

Chicago area sculptor Goldsmith first created this striding figure in clay and then cast it into concrete. Beginning with figurative images, she works to simplify the human form to get to its essence. The gesture combines the heavy earthbound bottom of the figure with the light wing-like upper form.

This sculpture, donated by the artist, is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section IV

Ted Gall – Sun Worshipper

Media: Steel

Steel

This steel sculpture was hand welded of multiple small pieces, cut to reference anatomical parts of the body. The weld marks also contain anatomical references. The artist’s intention was to strip the human form to its base elements and then to rebuild it, exaggerating and emphasizing the heroic strength of the Native American figure.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Artist’s Website

Location: Section I

Ted Sitting Crow Garner – Baile de Alacrán

Media: Galvanized Steel, Steel

“Baile de Alacrán,” which means “Dance of the Scorpion” in Spanish, is made by a Native American artist living in the Chicago area. He says his sculpture is “cursive, transparent and abstract.” It was made by bending pipes to which expanded open work metal sheets were welded.  Garner is known for creating sculptural benches.  This sculpture, while not a comfortable place to sit, has a bench-like quality.

Location: Section IV

Ted Gall – Homage to Henry

Media: Cast Aluminum

Cast Aluminum

The sculpture, “Homage to Henry”, represents a wheel with interior designs made from shapes resembling automobile gaskets.  It was made during the sculptor Ted Gall’s tenure at Fel-Pro as artist-in-residence.  Gaskets for the Ford Motor Company were among the products made at Fel-Pro and were used by Gall as the inspiration for many of the sculptures he made for the company.  The sculpture has been cast into aluminum.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Artist’s Website

Location: Section I

Edward McCullough — Meridian Coda — 2023 Weinberg Award Winner

Media: Stainless Steel

“Meridian Coda” is fabricated from Stainless Steel. The sculpture was planned as a
series of interconnecting, planar pieces that were cut from flat, metal sheets. Special
metal fabrication machines were used to form the various arcs and curves. Overhead
cranes were employed to move each piece into place. Fabrication was done by welding
all the pieces together.

The winning sculpture is a summarization of all ten, previously constructed, sculptures
in the “Meridian” series. This final “Coda” is the culmination of all the sculptures in the
series. “Meridian Coda” invites viewers to be a physical part of it. The spaces around
the forms are as important as the forms themselves

Location: Section IV

Jack Howard-Potter – Gendron

Media: Powder Coated Steel, Steel

Powder Coated Steel

Howard-Potter uses his knowledge of human anatomy and skills as a metal worker to create large scale figurative sculptures. His goal is to take steel, a rigid hard material, and give it a sense of movement and fluidity. His sculpture, Gendron, is coated in a hard red laquered finish. The artist likes to use bright colors to make his work stand out from the landscape.

Artist’s Website

Artist Interview VIdeo w/ Jack Howard-Potter

Location: Section IV

Becky Guttin – Survival

Media: Aluminum, Cast Aluminum, Glass, Steel

Steel, Cast Aluminum and Glass

This Mexican artist, now living in the United States uses her sculptures as ways to promote her ideologies. “Survival” asks that we sit in the circular environment that she has created using all discarded and recycled materials. (crushed automobile radiators, old angle iron and recycled glass)  In the circle, we are to think about the” survival of our planet” and how it won’t survive if we continue filling it up with all the “things” we throw away.

Artist’s Website

Location: Section IV

Paul Howe – Know Your Mushrooms

Media: Steel, Steel Bars

Steel Bars

The 3 sections of this sculpture are made of intertwined, bent and welded “rebar” (steel). The artist, Paul Howe, tells us that his focus is “on process:  the making of the sculpture”.

He tells us through the title of the sculpture that he was inspired by the image of mushrooms.  Viewers might consider whether the objects that make up the sculpture are upside-down or right side-up, where they might have come from, whether they represent any other recognizable object and ultimately whether the subject of the sculpture is necessary to our enjoyment of the piece at all.

Location: Section I

Curt Brill – Katia

Media: Bronze

This Arizona sculptor created “Katia” originally in clay and then had it cast into bronze. The artist tells us that he is interested in three particular elements in this sculpture. They are movement, humor and serenity. The artist, in addition to making  sculpture, has worked with physically and mentally challenged people. He searches in his work for the “hidden human spirit.”

Location: Section IV

Kari Reardon – Metalmatic

Media: Steel, Welded Steel Hoops

Welded Steel Hoops

This large, organic and fluid form was made from a huge industrial coil of steel. The coil was suspended downward and, as it moved and dropped, the artist adjusted the coils to the positions she wanted and then welded them together. Her goal was to take a hard man-made material and transform it into a soft billowing form that has a feeling of growth and movement.

Location: Section I

Joseph Folise – Donor Tree

Media: Painted Steel, Steel

“Donor Tree” was designed by Chicago area artist, Folise, to serve dual purposes: one, as a unique sculpture and, additionally, as a legacy fundraiser for the Sculpture Park. It allows patrons to add their names or those of loved ones, businesses or organizations to a piece of enduring sculpture at a prime location in the park for all visitors to see.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section IV

Bruce Johnson – Walking Stone

Media: Copper, Redwood, Wood

Redwood and Copper

Using natural redwood from his California home, Johnson added overlapping copper “scales” to complement the grain and texture of the wood. He worked the wood with an assortment of tools to give the sculpture its creative qualities.  The finished form of the piece suggests legs and feet walking.  The simple form and unique textures of the sculpture combine both Eastern and Western sensibilities.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section I

John Himmelfarb – International Leader

Media: Painted Aluminum, Plasma-Cut Aluminum

This sculpture is made from a large sheet of aluminum that was plasma-cut and finished with international Harvester Tractor Red paint. Icons inherent to communications between all people in all  languages are represented in this piece. This is illustrated by the universal visual language used by artists: shape, size, proportion, repetition, rhythm, balance and harmony.

Location: Section IV

Ted Gall – Groundbreaker

Media: Steel

Steel

This is the first and largest of Ted Gall’s Fel-Pro sculptures to be installed on the property that eventually became the Skokie Northshore  Sculpture Park. This giant “gasket” seemingly half buried in the ground has been on this site across from the former Fel-Pro headquarters long before the Park was formed. It is made of sheet corten steel, cut and welded into large hollow forms. The peg shaped elements along the side represent the pieces removed from the holes in the main part of the sculpture.

Mr. Gall worked for Fel-Pro for 22 years as an artist -in-residence and often used gaskets, the main product of the company, as a theme for his work.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Artist’s Website

Location: Section I

Michael Grucza – Shapeshifter

Media: Stainless Steel, Steel

This Chicago artist likes to use industrial materials in unusual ways. He works with simple shapes and he contrasts elements such as transparent and opaque forms within one piece. He is inspired by children’s drawings and he often makes a small model and works with industrial craftsman to form the larger piece.

Polished perforated stainless steel, powder-coated aluminum tubing and painted steel plate.

Location: Section IV

Luis Torruella – Observatorio de la Imaginación

Media: Aluminum, Painted Aluminum

Painted Aluminum

The Puerto Rican sculptor, Luis Torruella created his sculpture from aluminum sheets that were cut, welded, polished and finally patinaed.

There are two parts to the sculpture: The smaller segment is intended to be a seat that the viewer can use to observe the larger sculptural piece.  The viewer is then able to look through the telescope-like form at the top, and let his thoughts wander in this “observatory of the imagination.”

Location: Section I

Maurice Blik – Second Breath

Media: Resin

Blik, a holocaust survivor as a child, lived and studied in London where he is now a fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. This expressive figure is one of a series that talks about redemption, about getting a second chance in life. The figure was first created in clay and then cast into polyester resin. It speaks of the human spirit finding freedom.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section IV

Konreid Muench – Time Flies

Media: Aluminum, Boeing L-1011 Airplane Wings

Boeing L-1011 Airplane Wings and Aluminum

“Time-Flies” is a thought provoking image of time spent traveling. The sculpture was made by the cutting, forming and fabrication of authentic aircraft aluminum. The metal is welded and riveted together to form the stylized image of aircraft wheels and axle.

Having earned a Bachelor of  Fine Arts degree at the School of the Art Institute, Konried Muench began his career in the Chicago area. He also has a sculpture on permanent display  at the Rush Medical Center in Chicago. Presently, the artist maintains a working studio in Tampa, Florida and his work can be seen at various venues  throughout the continental United States.

Location: Section I

Bill Cooper – A Matter of Time

Media: Steel

The artist is the owner of a forge,  where metal is heated and formed by hammering and pressure. This sculpture is solid steel and its shape and surface textures are made by forging. The piece refers to time and asks viewers to think about time, measured in terms of millennia. The sculpture is designed so that it acts as a solar observatory. By facing each element of the sculpture and looking at the horizon you can find the location of the sunrise and sunset for each season of the year.

Location: Section IV

Aspire – Barbara Goldsmith

Media: Concrete, painted concrete over fiberglass form

My artwork is an abstraction  of reality, it is either figurative  or organic in form.  The media is usually  cast concrete, stoneware clay with steel or mixed media, “Aspire” was formed by by making a metal and  plastic armature.. Then  I used a concrete and fiber glass product to cover the structure. It is lighter than solid poured concrete and it can be applied vertically.

The form of the sculpture took many weeks of a slow drying process, i applied the covering  mixture to ensure effective results.  I worked on my sculpture during the early pandemic times.

I titled  my new sculpture  “ Aspire“ which means hope.  In a world filled with distractions and complications, i am hopeful for a sense of simplicity and balance and endless possibilities!

I chose a bright blue to  paint the sculpture. The color blue symbolizes calmness, and security. I wanted to create a quiet, peaceful sculpture.

 

(sound file to come)

 

Location: Section I

Sheila Oettinger – Reverie

Media: Stoneware

This figure, made of stoneware clay, was made by a Chicago area sculptor. The elegant woman as depicted is thinking about and relating to the Sculpture Park, the landscape she sits in. “Reverie” was sculpted in one large solid form, hollowed, cut apart, fired and then reassembled. The artist is interested in the infinite possibilities of the human figure as pure form and in psychological and emotional terms.

This sculpture was donated by the artist and is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section I

Aaron Benson – Lazarus and the Rich Man

Media: Stoneware

This ceramic sculpture  (high fired clay), accented with metallic oxides and other ceramic colorants, has an interesting and detailed surface.  Looking carefully one can find faces, hands, bones and other forms within the piece.   The sculpture as originally installed had a second section which has now been removed.  Although the title invites viewers to recall the biblical parable, making the connection may prove challenging without the other form.  It can be interesting, however, to think about the elements in this piece and try to  determine their significance.  Indeed, it is interesting to think about the significance of the large form itself, what it looks like to the viewer and what the artist intended it to be.

This sculpture was donated by the artist and is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section IV

Stacy Latt Savage – Votive Head 2000-2012

Media: Steel, Wood

Steel and Wood

This sculpture by  Massachusetts artist, Stacy Latt Savage is meant to be viewed as a universal symbol of “humanness,” having no gender and/or ethnicity or race.   Ms. Savage is very concerned about the scale of her work. She wants to engage viewers through the monumental size of her “sculptural head”.  When installed, “Votive Head” consisted of a steel framework covered with wooden slats. After being on exhibition outdoors for a number of years, the wood began to deteriorate and had to be removed.  By doing so,  the structural interior was exposed and a new and different sculpture was created.

The new version of this sculpture was donated by the artist to the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park and is now part of the Park’s permanent collection.

Location: Section I

Terrence Karpowicz – Aspire

Media: Bronze, Steel, Stone

This Chicago artist, who co-founded the Pier Walk Sculpture Shows, works in metal, wood and stone. This sculpture is an abstract “formal” piece that, through its materials and construction, talks about man’s desire to “aspire”, to move upward toward heaven. It shows that the path is not even or straight, but, with simple elegance, meanders skyward.

Location: Section IV

Fisher Stolz – Trinity: 2019 Weinberg Competition Winner

Media: Stainless Steel, Steel

Stainless Steel

The origin of the idea behind “Trinity” began with the exploration of a Celtic clover knot. Although he refers to the form as Celtic, it has been used in many cultures and generally references interconnectedness.
Contoured planes are emphasized in the sculpture, as is the twisting option, to describe dynamic movement. A series of rays originate at the center of the base and project through and out of the clover knot in a display of energy from the core. Associations range from spiritual to nuclear. The goal is for the viewer to be able to see this clover knot elevated in space. Many of the works by Professor Stolz have a
strong symmetry, but in this case, the elements are angled in an asymmetrical way. This angle makes the clover knot more apparent from a viewer’s perspective.

Fisher Stolz is an active member of the Illinois sculpture community. He has exhibited internationally and is the Sculpture Area Head at Bradley University in Peoria, IL.

Winner of 2019 Louis Weinberg Sculpture Competition

Location: Section I

Lucy Slivinski – Shadow

Media: Steel, Steel Chains

Slivinski uses a variety of industrial materials and found objects, such as chains, to weave or construct vessel, basket or nest forms. She is drawn to these materials for their history and function as well as their aesthetic appeal. Slivinski emphasizes the innate qualities of the materials as she manipulates them using many traditional crafting techniques also rich in history. Some of these techniques include welding, crocheting, weaving, bailing and coiling. The result is richly textured and patinated, and heavily layered. Yet, there remains a wonderfully ethereal quality generated by the light and air filtering through the chains. Given my varied approach to different processes and materials, there is a continued interplay between industrial and organic, between hard and soft and between solid and ethereal forms, says Slivinski.

Location: Section IV

Howard Russo – Banded Beachball

Media: Fabricated Steel, Steel

Fabricated Steel

Russo is an artist who works in his studio in St. Charles, IL. His work can be seen in public places throughout the Midwest. The sculpture is made from steel that is cut, bent and welded into place. It is left unpainted to encourage rust for an interesting finish to the surface. His imagery is driven by the sphere form and its repetition in nature. A balance between positive and negative space is also intriguing in his work.

Location: Section I

Jack Holme – Bridge To The Next Millennium

Media: Steel

Holme created the idea for this sculpture by playing on a miniature scale with found objects; next came a maquette, a small steel version of the sculpture. Last, the piece was fabricated in its full size, 10 times larger than the model. The piece symbolically represents our passage to the future. The openings represent the pitfalls for those unprepared to meet  new challenges.  The sculpture was created to celebrate the beginning of the 21st century.

The artist donated his sculpture and it is now part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section I

Mark Chatterley – Fairy Circle

Media: High Fired Clay and Crater Glaze

The seven figures that make up Fairy Circle are made of fired clay. At first all the ladies seem to be alike but each has subtle differences. The sculptor often creates groups of figures and is interested in how the figures relate to each other. Michigan sculptor Chatterley is noted for the unusual CRATER glaze he uses on his sculptures. The blue-green glaze with its rough surface has become his trademark. A crater glaze bubbles and boils while it is in the kiln. The surface of the sculpture reflects that process. The artist  built a special kiln large enough to accommodate each full-size figure.

This sculpture, donated by the artist, is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section I

Patrick McDonald – Weeee

Media: Concrete, Steel

Oak Park artist Patrick McDonald cast concrete into a towering, tapered monumental form, pierced by circular openings that diminish in size as the eye moves upward. The concrete mass is also offset by a series of protruding steel rods that frame the shape and create interesting patterns in bright sunlight. The artist varies the surface texture from one area to another. McDonald made the work by using full-scale drawings and a model, from which he built the forms and cast the concrete. “Weeee” is set into a concrete base and weighs approximately 20,000 pounds. The Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park commissioned McDonald to construct this sculpture on-site a process that took several weeks in October 2002.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section I

Chris Duncan – Lingo

Media: Concrete, Steel

Duncan used additive and subtractive sculptural processes to make this abstract sculpture. The artist made the work by welding together a steel armature and burying it in the ground. He then poured concrete over it, later removing some of the concrete to reveal the steel underneath. These multiple steps enabled Duncan to create Lingo’s various textural surfaces and its asymmetrically balanced form.

Location: Section I

Sharon Loper – CLIO

Media: Bronze

Most of Sharon Loper’s sculptures are of human and animal forms. Her female figures are often elongated and posed in very statuesque and serene ways. They seem mysterious. Note the eyes of this sculpture; they impart an almost other-worldly look.  Loper works initially in clay in a very contemporary direct style. You can see the way she added clay to the sculpture and can find her tool marks as well. The finished clay model was taken to a foundry and cast into bronze using the lost wax method of casting.

Artist Interview

Location: Section I

Samuel Spiczka – Like Clockwork

Media: Corten Steel, Wood

This Minnesota artist has created a sculpture primarily of steel, but with elements of wood and rubber as well. His piece, hanging like a pendulum, speaks about “the human condition” and about the mechanization of our modern society. The artist’s concerns are very philosophical and he wishes to challenge us to view his complex work and find in it new ideas and meanings.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Section II

Location: Section II

Jim Agard – Gapingstock

Media: Corten Steel, Steel

Corten Steel

Mr. Agard is a professor of Art at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. Gapingstock is an abstract sculpture wherein the artist has created two unique interlocking shapes that occupy space in a beautiful and intriguing manner. He is interested in “how forms fit together and in creating formal compositions that are uniquely his own.” He does not want the shapes he creates to refer to any recognizable forms or objects.

Location: Section II

Drew Goerlitz – Circinus

Media: Steel

Steel

New York-based Goerlitz creates a different relationship between two recognizable objects first by enlarging the scale of the compass and anvil and then juxtaposing these two objects, he reverses the original relationship between a slender compass and a massive anvil. Goerlitz sees his sculpture as a “visual commentary on the conflict of gender in society”.  As such, the compass, usually thought of as a delicate instrument, towers over the masculine anvil.

Location: Section II

Darrin Hallowell – Points of Influence

Media: Concrete

“Glasstone” A proprietary high strength concrete containing recycled glass

This installation consists of multiple pieces with each one being the hollowed out image of the human form.  The various pieces have been placed to allow visitors to walk among them.
The artist states that it “focuses on fundamental aspects of human relationships and communication…”  It is based “on the figure as a vessel, empty or filled…”

Location: Section II

Larry Paul King – Strike II

Media: Paint, Steel, Steel Mesh, Tar

Steel, Steel Mesh, Tar and Paint

The Chicago-born artist created a skeleton or substructure of steel bars, which he then covered with steel mesh and tar. Originally, in a sculpture called “Strike” (exhibited at the park from 1997-2000), he covered the armature with grass reeds. In this version, the reeds have been removed and paint with graphite has been applied in certain areas. King conceived the work as relating to the verb “to strike,” meaning “to strike something with a point, as in lightning.”

Location: Section II

Mike Baur – Lost Route

Media: Cast Concrete, Steel

Steel and Cast Concrete

Chicago area sculptor Baur prefers not to discuss his work — he wants it to speak for itself. Viewers usually see ship-like-forms, hulls, rudder, oars, etc. Art critics have spoken glowingly about the artist’s ability to take “brute materials and transform them into refined poetic forms.”

artist website: http://www.mikebaursculpture.com/

Location: Section II

Richard Heinrich – The Eagle Flies On Friday

Media: Stainless Steel, Steel

Stainless Steel

New York sculptor Heinrich says this sculpture’s title derives from a blues song lyric. He listens to music as he works. His intention was to use gravity defying elements to enable the sculpture to reach upward with a minimum of material and weight. The piece suggests perhaps a nest or flowers-like forms.

Location: Section II

Sharon Loper – Isolation #5

Media: Bronze

Cast Bronze

This California artist’s concerns are about the human figure and its ability to communicate without words. The figure was first made in clay in a technique combining classical methodology with contemporary feel and execution. The figure was cast into bronze by the lost wax method. The siting of the piece in the Park contributes to the sense of “isolation.”

Artist’s Website

Location: Section II

Luigi Testa – Flight

Media: Steel, Stone

Steel and Stone

This sculpture of raw steel with sharp edged forms cut and welded by the artist form a stark contrast to the natural stone they enfold. The initially simple almost geometic shapes that make up the sculpture, on closer examination, reveal themselves to be quite unique and conplex. The resulting abstracted bird-like or insect-like form gives the viewer a sense of movement or flight on the higher level, while the lower half of the sculpture seems firmly on the ground.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section II

Andrei Rabodzeenko – Wing

Media: Stainless Steel, Steel, Structural Steel

Structural Steel and Stainless Steel

The sculptor was born and educated in the former Soviet Union. His welded structural and stainless steel sculpture was inspired by and derives its shape from that of a bird’s wing. The sculpture offers several contradictions: One, there is only one wing, where we usually think of wings in pairs. Two, this wing is on the ground. We usually think of wings in the air, in flight. Third, this sculpture has  distinct front and back views.

Location: Section II

Tamsie Ringler – Porte Des Morts

Media: Steel, Stone

Steel and Stones

Ms. Ringler’s work  involves creating diverse sculptural installations.  This sculpture was inspired by memories of the artist’s grandmother’s house in Door County, Wisconsin, in an area called “Porte des Mort,” therefore the title of the piece. She wants viewers to ‘re-experience’ the idea of house as an image.  She would like us to consider that it is open not solid and yet has the architectural form of a specific place.  The stones in the interior were collected from the area of the Porte Des Mort.

This sculpture was donated  by the artist and is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section II

John Hock – Table Sculpture: Can’t Recall a Time

Media: Steel, Welded Steel

Welded Steel

The artist says that his sculpture is a metaphysical statement. He calls sculptures at their best akin to poetry and music. This piece was inspired by the sculpture of Constantine Brancusi, whose sculptures integrated object and base. One view of this piece can remind one of Brancusi’s “Bird in Space”. The sculpture, the largest in the Sculpture Park, took several months of heavy work to complete. The base alone weight 15,000 pounds.

Artist’s Website

Video Interview w/ John Hock

Location: Section II

John Ruppert – Vertical Barge

Media: Cast Steel, Steel

Cast Steel

A sculptor and professor in Maryland, Mr. Ruppert created this sculpture by pouring molten steel into an open mold containing a real steel chain. He was inspired by working in an iron foundry on the Mississippi River. The textures were the result of the bubbling created when the hot molten steel hit the cold chain.

Location: Section II

Indira Johnson – Star Woman

Media: Fabricated Steel, Paint

Fabricated Steel and Paint

Johnson is an artist living and working in Evanston, Illinois. She has exhibited her sculptures throughout the Chicago area.
The sculpture is made from steel which was cut, welded and the edges ground. Then it was brush painted.

The artist thought of Star Woman one evening as she was looking up at an incredible star-studded sky and thought about how we are all made of stars. We are part of one universe and the universe is part of us. It was wonderful way to think about our connection to others.

 

Location: Section II

William Wareham – Dry Run

Media: Painted Steel, Steel

Painted Steel

This sculpture, made of cut and welded steel, is a pure and formal composition. Using shapes and the spaces between them, it creates a visual  environment to engage our interest. Close inspection reveals the way the artist bent and assembled shapes to open up spaces and the ultimate complexity of the simple geometic-like forms.  The yellow painted surface adds a strong color element to this composition.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Location: Section II

Ted Gall – Charger I and II

Media: Painted Steel, Steel

Painted Steel

These two colorful horses lend their humorous spirited presence to the Park.  Seeming at first to resemble paper cutouts, these sculptures also reveal a thorough understanding of horse anatomy  and have a very “realistic” sense of movement.

The artist, now a Californian, was at one time the sculptor-in-residence at Fel-Pro, Inc. During his 22-year stay there, Mr. Gall created hundreds of sculptures, four of which are at the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park, donated by the late Lewis Weinberg, former CEO of Fel-Pro and president of the Sculpture Park Board of Directors.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Artist’s Website

Location: Section II

Andrew MacGuffie – Municipal Water Carrier

Media: Steel, Truck Axles

Steel and Truck Axles

The Minnesota sculptor, Andrew MacGuffie conceived the piece as a way to talk about our reliance on municipal water distribution systems.  He wants us to think about the fact that in many places in the world water is not readily and easily obtainable.

MacGuffie used discarded  materials to create his sculpture.  It is a commentary on what we take for granted—above all, that water is plentiful, unlimited and available. The sculpture’s stark industrial forms serve as a powerful reminder of the elaborate bureaucratic systems necessary to sustain this most basic civic  function.

Section III

Location: Section III

Students of Niles North High School – Visions of the Spirit of Skokie and Chicagoland

Media: Fired Clay

Fired Clay

These sculptural totems, made of fired clay (ceramic), were the class project of Niles North High School art teacher Michael Rush and his students. Each Student made one cube and decorated its surfaces with relief and incised designs. The cube were dried and fired and then highlighted with metallic oxide and refired. Each cube had a large hole through it’s center so that it could be threaded onto vertical PVC pipes creating the totem-like forms in the installation.

Location: Section III

Students of Niles West High School – Wonders of the Deep

Media: Glazed Ceramic

Glazed Ceramic

The students of ceramics teacher Barbara Wismer at Niles West High School created the colorful glazed clay forms that make up this “totem-like” sculpture installation.  The ceramic forms were assembled onto lengths of PVC pipe, embedded in concrete.  Students were free to use their imagination in creating these beautiful organic sculptural forms.

Section IV

Media: Stainless Steel, Steel | Location: Section IV

Kevin Casey – Coalesce

Stainless Steel

Artist Statement:

Artist, Kevin Casey, grew up with little or no exposure to the arts until he attended college. His artworks have been displayed throughout Iowa and Illinois. This sculpture, “Coalesce”, was designed using a CAD program. The stainless steel was cut using a plasma cutter. The various components were welded and the surface effect is achieved by implementing a high-powered grinder.

Although his work is not indicative of any particular issue or theme, it inherently deals with dynamics, movement and perspective. When observed from different angles, the sculpture looks vastly different from each point of view. He enjoys the reaction of others to his work.

Section I

Media: Aluminum | Location: Section I

Dale Graham – Trunnion II

Kentucky-based sculptor Dale Graham uses his background in mathematics and engineering to create sculptures that make us aware of the principles governing the creation of structures and bridges. This aluminum sculpture features a trunnion, a cylindrical pin like that on a cannon that forms the axis on which it pivots, a device also used in bridge design. Graham chose to use lightweight aluminum instead of heavy steel so that his sculpture could be more easily transported from place to place.  He burnished the surface of the sculpture so that it reflects light in irregular patterns adding to the “lightness” of the piece.

This sculpture has been donated to the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park by the artist and is now part of the Park’s permanent collection.

Audio notes

Media: Painted Steel, Steel | Location: Section IV

Ruth Aizuss Migdal — La Diva I

A triptych of a curvaceous woman in a beautiful red dress. Ruth sees her moving and captures several instances of a dance or a swirl. Much like a sports or fashion photographer strives to capture each movement, the three separate pieces of this work catch the enticing moves of “La Diva”.

Media: Cast Iron, Steel | Location: Section I

Robert Smart – La Souterraine

La Souterraine is the name of a small village in France that held an arts festival in which the artist participated. Smart asked some citizens to volunteer to have life casts made of their faces. He tape recorded interviews and took photographs. The sixteen cast iron faces, set atop steel posts grouped in twos and threes, vary by sex, age, and expression. To the artist these faces are merely an indelible memory of a shared event.

 

Media: Steel, Welded Steel | Location: Section I

John Parker – Gargoyle

Pennsylvania sculptor Parker created “Gargoyle” to be “the gatekeeper of the park.” The sculpture reflects his interest in insects, dinosaurs and exotic flowers. By combining “nature with steel,” he gives a “heavy industrial material a loving animated presence.” The sculpture is made of weathered steel plate, cut, bent and bolted together.

Media: Painted Steel, Steel | Location: Section I

Joseph Eisenhauer – Revival

This large-scale abstract sculpture consists of steel that has been cut, welded, bolted, and painted. Eisenhauer wants to communicate with the viewer through line, shape, and form. He arranged the steel pieces together to create straight, curved, and jagged lines. When combined, these lines form asymmetrically balanced geometric and architectural shapes that seem to reach out into space.

As of 2018, this sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Media: Found Objects, Steel, Welded Steel | Location: Section IV

Jamie Barber – Reaper

Welded Steel and Found Objects

The artist created this alien creature-like object out of materials found in salvage yards. The pieces of sheet metal were welded over a substructure of metal tubing. The artist views the sculpture as an object “from a past war” or something “found at the bottom of the ocean.” He means for it to feel threatening, fearsome. He is interested in anxieties and how they direct our thinking.

This sculpture, donated by the artist, is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Media: Glass, Steel | Location: Section IV

Mary Cooke – Rite of Passage

Steel and Glass

Cooke arranged steel plates at angles to each other to create the lower portion of the sculpture.  A curving, welded steel armature rises from this base and arches through space. Panels of stained glass inserted into two areas of the web-like armature encourage viewing the sculpture from several different points of view.

Artist’s Website

Media: Concrete, glazed concrete | Location: Section I

Barbara Goldsmith – Spread My Wings

Chicago area sculptor Goldsmith first created this striding figure in clay and then cast it into concrete. Beginning with figurative images, she works to simplify the human form to get to its essence. The gesture combines the heavy earthbound bottom of the figure with the light wing-like upper form.

This sculpture, donated by the artist, is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Media: Steel | Location: Section IV

Ted Gall – Sun Worshipper

Steel

This steel sculpture was hand welded of multiple small pieces, cut to reference anatomical parts of the body. The weld marks also contain anatomical references. The artist’s intention was to strip the human form to its base elements and then to rebuild it, exaggerating and emphasizing the heroic strength of the Native American figure.

This sculpture is part of the Permanent Collection of the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park.

Artist’s Website

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