CHRISTINE RICCELLI
dsmArts Editor

Welcome to dsmArts!

This summer promises to be a big one for the Des Moines arts scene. The biggest news, of course, is the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park downtown. With 17 sculptures valued at some $30 million, the park will have a major impact on the city, “positively changing its complexion, character and quality,” as Des Moines Art Center Director Jeff Fleming says. And it will do more than that: City officials and the arts community agree that the sculpture park will make a splash on national and international levels as well.

For some people, viewing the sculptures may cause a little head scratching. Contemporary art can be perplexing, even peculiar. What is that giant piece of red-orange metal with beams shooting off in different directions? In our cover story (page 64), Susan Watts tells why Mark di Suvero’s “T8” is distinctive and also explains what makes a number of the other sculptures unique and compelling.

Though the sculpture park is getting the most attention, there are plenty of other reasons to embrace the arts this summer. The crowd-pleasing Des Moines Arts Festival will be chock-full of artists and activities, including the Interrobang Film Festival, a new event led by 48 Hour Film Project producer Sam Tuomi (page 70). And as usual, the Des Moines Metro Opera will present a stellar lineup of shows. Both “Regina” and “A Masked Ball” will feature Gwendolyn Bowers, a dynamic, delightful mezzo-soprano who grew up in Pella and has sung with opera companies around the world (page 50). 

Local performing artists will showcase their talents at additional events, including Jazz in July (page 50), 711 Theatre Project (page 58) and Blues Before Sunset. 

Though most of these events are family-friendly, the arts will reach children in more direct ways this summer. As a part of Metro Arts Alliance’s Education on Location program, local artists will present workshops on music, painting, storytelling and other art forms—all with a “green” theme—to children throughout the city. Catalyst Arts Academy, a new nonprofit organization, will offer an innovative program that combines intensive dance training with public service. In addition to learning ballet, participants will volunteer to help children’s charities. Organizers hope to expand the program to opera and theater next year.

You’ll find great ways to explore the season’s arts offerings throughout this issue. Enjoy the summer!

Splendid Sculpture The John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park will showcase world-class contemporary art and is expected to create a national sensation.	Swan Song John Canarina is retiring this spring after 35 years of conducting the Drake Symphony Orchestra.
Showcase Activities, special events and artist booths will pack the Des Moines Arts Festival June 27–29, but don’t overlook the group of 24 younger Iowa artists who will be displaying their work there.	Pulse Pella native Gwendolyn Bowers will return to Iowa this summer to sing with the Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO). The mezzo-soprano will perform the roles of the sorceress Ulrica in “A Masked Ball” and the maid Addie in “Regina.”

Emerging Iowa Artists

Activities, special events and artist booths will pack the Des Moines Arts Festival June 27–29, but don’t overlook the group of 24 younger Iowa artists who will be displaying their work there. The artists are part of the Emerging Iowa Artist Program, which gives them the opportunity to show and sell their artwork to the nearly 250,000 people expected to attend the festival.

The program is open to Iowa residents currently enrolled in or recently graduated from any university, college or art school throughout the United States. Applicants are selected based on the same criteria—technique, design and originality—and by the same panel of jurors as the professional artists.

In addition to the five artists featured here, the following artists also will display their work at the festival: Sarah Achtemeier, Iowa State University (ISU); Kate Brown, ISU; Andy Campbell, Grand View College; Saharu Fakhraie, Grand View; Megan Finch, Graceland University; Ryan Kappelman, ISU; Andrew Kopp, ISU; Anastasia Kral, ISU; Kelly Kunzler, Graceland; Jon Lemons, ISU; Jared Porter, ISU; Anjana Rao, ISU; Benjamin Ryan, ISU; Nathan Schmid, University of Northern Iowa; Willa Thornburg, ISU; Dean Vande Griend, ISU; Asa Wentzel-Fisher, ISU; Dustin Whited, ISU; and Grant Wittstruck, Morningside College. –Brent Houzenga

Jon Kamrath Specialty  Mixed-media sculpture Background Kamrath, 25, will receive a master of fine arts degree in May from Iowa State University. He says he knew he wanted to be an artist when he saw Giambologna’s “The Rape of the Sabine Women” (1574-82), a three-figure sculpture depicting a kidnapping in ancient Rome. “I was instantly in love with that piece,” says Kamrath, who lives in West Des Moines with his wife, Heidi. His Work Kamrath uses a variety of materials in his sculptures, including wood, clay and metal. “Most of my work is anywhere from four to six feet tall. I think that’s something people like about it. The size is impressive,” he says. Kamrath also tries to make pieces that people can interact with, often including moving parts.	Brett Kilburg Specialty Drawing, acrylic Background A lifelong art lover, Kilburg grew up in Andrew, a small town in eastern Iowa. “It just seemed like the natural progression to pursue art in college,” says the 21-year-old Grand View College senior. His Work Kilburg says his inspiration comes from the people around him. “I take pictures of my friends or I (use) photos from their Facebook accounts. I think those are the shots that best describe who we are,” he says. “Models are limited for me so I use what I’ve got.”	Amber Preas Specialty Painting Background Amber Preas, a 20-year-old Pleasant Hill native, is pursuing a degree in art education at Grand View College. “I want to pass on the inspiration that other people have given me,” she says.  Preas’ interest in art started when she was a youth; she received a scholarship to the Des Moines Art Center when she was in elementary school. “I was always encouraged by my parents to go for it,” she says. Her Work In recent months, Preas has been painting scenes from downtown Des Moines. “It represents a lot for me. I’m proud to say I’m from Des Moines,” she says. Preas adds that she finds architecture fascinating. “I think we have some of the coolest buildings in the country,” she says.
Cat Rocketship Specialty Painting, mixed media Background Nebraska native Rocketship, 23, graduated from Drake University in 2007 and is currently a project specialist at Metro Arts Alliance. “I started out studying biology because I thought art was a hopeless endeavor,” she says. “After my freshman year, I made the reckless leap into art mostly because I didn’t want to have to go to grad school for science. My parents have been mad at me ever since.” Her Work Rocketship says she is a total “oil snob” and that she likes to paint on foil or glass. “Sometimes ideas pop into my head, fully formed and begging to be put on paper,” she says. “A lot of the rest of my concepts come from aimless drawing.” She adds that she likes to read through scientific journals. “That really gets the juices flowing,” she says.	Changsoon Shin Specialty Ceramics, wood Background Shin, 34, lives in Des Moines with his wife and their 9-month-old son, Noah.  Shin came to Iowa from South Korea to study architecture at Iowa State University. But he changed his mind, deciding to pursue art. “Art is more generous, you can do more with it,” says Shin, now a senior. His Work Shin focuses mostly on ceramics but also has a passion for wood design. His ceramics work is ornate and detailed. “I want to try to become a well-known artist, but if that doesn’t work out, I’d like to open my own design studio,” he says.

Spider

The Artist 
Louise Bourgeois (born 1911) emigrated from her native France to the United States in 1938, making her home in New York City. An innovative artist, Bourgeois has escaped categorization because of her varied body of work. Her sculptures of wood, bronze, concrete, wax, plaster and latex are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris and many others.

The Work 
“Spider” is a bronze sculpture created in 1997, part of a series of spiders. It stands 94 inches high by 94 inches wide by 84 inches deep.

The Appeal 
“Spider” is at once playful and intimidating. Appearing as though it is sneaking up on someone, ready to pounce, it is just tall enough to overtake a person. Bourgeois’ clever design makes it seem as though the spindly legs have just enough stability to hold the knotted body. The scale of the sculpture also intrigues. If the spider is this big, can you imagine its web?

Bourgeois’ art, though varied, has always symbolized personal issues in her
life, especially her difficult childhood. The spiders refer to the artist’s mother, who, Bourgeois says, was “deliberate, clever, patient, soothing, reasonable, dainty, subtle, indispensable, neat and useful as a spider.”

Untitled

The Artist 
Scott Burton (1939-1989) was a performance artist until his attention shifted to sculpture in the mid-1970s. He omitted people from his performances, becoming more interested in the furniture he made for props. Often described as erudite, Burton was a contributing editor for ArtNews and Art in America before becoming a full-time artist. Burton’s work was the subject of solo exhibitions at the Tate Gallery in London and at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

The Work
“Untitled (Eight-Part Seating/Café Table I)” is a set of sculptural chairs encircling a small table. The table, 28 inches high by 22 inches wide by 22 inches deep, is made of polished absolute black granite and was fabricated in 1992. The chairs each measure 32 inches high by 34 inches wide by 18 inches deep and were fabricated in 1989-1990 of polished Deer Island granite, named for a granite-rich island off the coast of Maine.

The Appeal 
This set of sculptures is a fitting representation of Burton’s opinion on
public art. He was adamant that art move beyond self-expression and serve a social purpose. Burton and his contemporaries aimed to destroy the line between fine art and functional art by creating interactive public art. He helped revive fundamentals popularized in the 1920s by De Stijl, a Dutch design movement, and the Bauhaus school in Germany.

T8

The Artist 
Born in China in 1933, Mark di Suvero moved to San Francisco in 1941, studied fine arts and philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley and eventually moved to New York. His works are in many collections, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

The Work
The size leader of the Pappajohn collection, “T8” measures 28 feet, 7 inches high by 24 feet wide by 37 feet deep. It was created in 1985 of steel and painted red.

The Appeal 
The steel beams of “T8” look like they are shooting off into space. Di Suvero manages to give a feeling of movement to an extremely heavy material, which is what makes him a master of industrial sculpture. A sense of balance is another design attribute of “T8.” The beams could be matchsticks leaning gently against one another, holding on to their connection before it is broken by a breeze.

Di Suvero’s early sculptures were on a smaller scale and made of found objects such as scrap metal, chains and old tires. He eventually moved on to heavier construction materials. The Hirshhorn Museum notes that di Suvero’s work “pays homage to modern engineering and the skills of construction workers.”

Thinker on a Rock

The Artist 
Britsh artist Barry Flanagan (born 1941) attended St. Martin’s School of Art in London under Sir Anthony Caro, another artist in the Pappajohn collection. Flanagan’s fanciful work is seen as a rejection of the formalism taught at the school. The artist, who lives in Dublin, Ireland, has works at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate Gallery in London.

The Work
 “Thinker on a Rock” (1997) is fabricated of bronze and measures nearly 11 feet high by 71.5 inches wide by 101.5 inches deep.

The Appeal 
Flanagan has unabashedly twisted Auguste Rodin’s masterpiece “The Thinker”—arguably one of art history’s most recognizable works—into a scene that could be from a children’s book.The skinny, silly hare that replaces the brooding male figure takes on human qualities, evident not only in his posture and elongated limbs, but also in his contemplative expression. Hares populate many of Flanagan’s works but no two are quite alike; each has its own persona. As art historian H. H. Arnason puts it: “Leaping, strutting, dancing, balancing, or boxing, the slender, free-formed but graceful bronze hare seems an emblem of Flanagan’s own spontaneity, openness, and good humor.”

Untitled

The Artist 
Ellsworth Kelly (born 1923) lives in upstate New York. He has maintained a steady, successful 60-year career, never straying far from his early investigations of color and abstract form. Kelly’s work is in numerous collections throughout the world including the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Kelly has been the subject of at least five books and chronicled in countless others.

The Work 
Kelly’s untitled work is composed of two curved, symmetrical stainless steel forms joined together like pages of a book. It stands 8 feet high by 8 feet wide by 7 feet deep and was created in 1986.

The Appeal 
Perhaps best known for his work on canvas, Kelly was part of a group referred to as the “hard edge abstraction” painters active in the 1950s. Experimentation with the shape of his bold-colored canvases led him to sculpture.

The quotation from Kelly in a New York Times article sums up his unique way of seeing: “The space I was interested in was not the surface of the painting, but the space between you and the painting.” The same can be said for Kelly’s sculptures; through contrast, the monochromatic, simple form brings out the complex beauty of its surroundings.

Nomade

The Artist 
Jaume Plensa (born 1955), a Spanish sculptor and conceptual artist, received much acclaim for the clever Crown Fountain in Chicago’s Millennium Park, one of many international commissions he’s been awarded. Plensa’s works are in museum collections in Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Spain and the United States. A native of Barcelona, he splits his time between his hometown and Paris.

The Work 
“Nomade” is the most recent addition to the Pappajohns’ collection. Made in 2007 of stainless steel, it measures 26 feet high by 18 feet wide by 17 feet deep. 

The Appeal 
Although imposing, “Nomade” has the lightness of lace. Its lattice-like construction allows viewers to see through the sculpture and enjoy a new perspective on its environment. At night, the sculpture is illuminated from within and takes on an ethereal presence.

“Nomade” marries Plensa’s interest in letters and the human form seen in his other work. Although the form is plainly that of a person, it is not clearly male or female and its ambiguity signifies universality, a recurring theme in Plensa’s work. The letters provide additional visual interest and tempt the viewer to decipher a code or find a hidden word.

Post Balzac

The Artist 
Judith Shea (born 1948) studied fashion design, an experience that informs her work. Highlights of Shea’s public collection list include pieces at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. The Philadelphia native teaches graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Work 
“Post Balzac,” fabricated of cast bronze and stone, was made in 1990. It measures 101 inches high by 18.25 inches wide by 19 inches deep.

The Appeal 
“Post Balzac” is more a statue than a sculpture; its formal composition of a figure on a pedestal contradicts its contemporary concept. The empty overcoat is unsettling, and the void left by the figure seems greater than the small black space inside the bronze form. The green and gold streaks of the patinated bronze add to the sculpture’s eerie aura.

Shea’s early work of fabric forms that hung flat on the wall gradually took on three dimensions as she moved into bronze. The empty coat in “Post Balzac” is a motif Shea used to represent men; women were designated by a sleeveless dress.

Marriage

The Artist 
Tony Smith (1912-1980) came to sculpture late in life. He studied architecture and apprenticed with Frank Lloyd Wright. Smith began experimenting with sculpture in the mid-1950s, and his work was included in a museum show in 1964, signifying the official beginning of his artistic career at the age of 51. Smith’s work is in the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York .

The Work
“Marriage,” 1961, is fabricated of welded steel with black paint and measures 10 feet high by 12 feet wide by 10 feet deep.

The Appeal 
Like di Suvero’s sculpture, Smith’s work has engaging angles. His sculptures often turn back on themselves, which adds a layer of complexity to the simple forms.

Smith’s name is tied to the minimalist movement that arose in the 1960s. Minimalist artists were dedicated to the purity of painting and sculpture; this abstract art was not used to express emotion as was the art of the abstract expressionists in the 1950s. Instead, the aim was to present painting and sculpture in their simplest states. In sculpture this meant unadorned geometric forms.

Meet Sam Tuomi

Age: 32 

Claim to Fame: Tuomi has been the producer of the Des Moines version of the 48 Hour Film Project since 2006. He expects 48 teams, most of them local, to compete this year, up from 40 in 2007. The teams are given a character, a prop and one line of dialogue and then must write and produce a short film in one weekend. Registration opens June 2 online (www.48hourfilm.com/desmoines), teams make their films July 25–27, and the screening will be at Fleur Cinema & Café July 30–31.

New Project: Tuomi is the producer of the Interrobang Film Festival, which will be a part of the Des Moines Arts Festival for the first time this year. The festival, open to both amateur and professional filmmakers, will include shorts, documentaries and features (submissions are being accepted through May 31). The films will show at a downtown venue during the arts festival. “Anything I can do to help the film community here, I’ll do,” he says.