Sculptures are often the trademark of a place: Chicago has Cloud Gate, Indianapolis has LOVE and Durham has the Bronze Bull. Sculpture can truly embody a city.
This week the Bull City Sculpture Show comes to Durham, displaying 12 national works across the city.
The show is presented by Liberty Arts, a non-profit foundry and 3-D sculpture studio in Durham.
Liberty Arts formed when the roof of the old Liberty Warehouse collapsed in 2011. A group of artists was working out of individual studios in the space. Dozens of people showed up to help the artists salvage their work and possessions. Others offered storage, space and housing.
A year later, 800 people helped dedicate a new Liberty Arts foundry and studio space. "We felt like Phoenix risen from the ashes," organizers said, "and it renewed our vision for the Bull City Sculpture Show."
The first sculpture of the show to arrive is aptly named "Twist of Fate."
In his artist's statement, "Twist of Fate" creator Mike Roig says the work was inspired, "no more or less than the desire to make something grand for no particular reason; to take some good steel and make it move in the wind."
Jackie MacLeod and Mike Waller co-chair the Bull City Sculpture Show. Bill Wood is a Virginia-based sculptor and a featured artist in the show. On the State of Things, Host Frank Stasio talks with MacLeod, Waller and Wood about the show and the significance of public art.
Preview all of the sculptures here.
This Kickstarter video goes inside the Liberty Arts studios:
There is a kick-off event Friday night. Or tour the exhibit yourself starting this weekend.
#downtown durham # public art The first sculpture is in. Mike Roig's piece pic.twitter.com/QfzAcCctVB
— Bull City Sculpture (@bullcitysculpts) April 27, 2014
