City Council endorses public art project for downtown entrance (3-22-06)
By Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post
Salisbury City Council gave its enthusiastic endorsement Tuesday to a public art project that would create a dramatic welcome to downtown.
Council voted 5-0 to back the selection of Rhode Island artist William Culbertson's mostly brick design, which would be erected on East Innes Street between the railroad bridge and Long Street. A model of the selected work will be on display over the next two weeks in the lobby of the Rowan County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Culbertson's design emerged out of 140 original applications. It features a center column (in a median) roughly 36 feet high and with sculpted relief. Columns on each side — smaller versions of the center column — would extend about 28 feet in the air.
Colorful banners, which could be changed with the seasons, punctuate the columns. The smaller columns would have fence-like appendages with insets describing the History and Art Trail, markers for which are now being produced. Barbara Perry, chair of the Public Art Committee, said her members used phrases such as "timeless appeal" and "strong presence" in describing Culbertson's work. They also said it fits with the city and will be a piece that says "Welcome to Salisbury," she said.
"I think it's a beautiful project," Mayor Susan Kluttz said.
Mayor Pro Tem Paul Woodson called it "remarkable."
Perry's committee will initially seek grants from the Robertson Family Foundation and the N.C. Arts Council before pursuing other sources. Culbertson has told the committee that it would take 18 months to two years to install the project after funding is in place. The Public Art Committee, which grew out of the Community Appearance Commission and Downtown Salisbury Inc., has 17 members. A separate eight-person selection panel was chosen to reduce the 140 original applications to 20, then five. The panel eventually invited three artists to Salisbury, and they came between Nov. 30 and Dec. 9 last year. The selection panel, which included Councilman Bill Burgin, met Feb. 23 and had conference calls with all three finalists before unanimously voting for Culbertson's project. The Public Art Committee also was unanimous in its preference for Culbertson's idea. His project would be the first of some of the larger public art installations envisioned for Salisbury in the coming years.
The History and Art Trail also will install a series of bronze markers to identify individuals, places and events significant to Salisbury's history. Fabrication has started on the first marker and six more are designed and ready to be produced. Culbertson gave the selection panel a specially produced DVD to show how his project would look on its site from every angle, how it would be illuminated at night and how it would look in passing traffic. Perry and Lynn Raker, urban design planner for the city, played the DVD for council Tuesday.
"Could you tell he worked for Disney at one time?" Burgin asked after the DVD finished. Culbertson works out of North Smithfield, R.I.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263, or mwineka @salisburypost.com.©2006, The Salisbury Post
By Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post
Salisbury City Council gave its enthusiastic endorsement Tuesday to a public art project that would create a dramatic welcome to downtown.
Council voted 5-0 to back the selection of Rhode Island artist William Culbertson's mostly brick design, which would be erected on East Innes Street between the railroad bridge and Long Street. A model of the selected work will be on display over the next two weeks in the lobby of the Rowan County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Culbertson's design emerged out of 140 original applications. It features a center column (in a median) roughly 36 feet high and with sculpted relief. Columns on each side — smaller versions of the center column — would extend about 28 feet in the air.
Colorful banners, which could be changed with the seasons, punctuate the columns. The smaller columns would have fence-like appendages with insets describing the History and Art Trail, markers for which are now being produced. Barbara Perry, chair of the Public Art Committee, said her members used phrases such as "timeless appeal" and "strong presence" in describing Culbertson's work. They also said it fits with the city and will be a piece that says "Welcome to Salisbury," she said.
"I think it's a beautiful project," Mayor Susan Kluttz said.
Mayor Pro Tem Paul Woodson called it "remarkable."
Perry's committee will initially seek grants from the Robertson Family Foundation and the N.C. Arts Council before pursuing other sources. Culbertson has told the committee that it would take 18 months to two years to install the project after funding is in place. The Public Art Committee, which grew out of the Community Appearance Commission and Downtown Salisbury Inc., has 17 members. A separate eight-person selection panel was chosen to reduce the 140 original applications to 20, then five. The panel eventually invited three artists to Salisbury, and they came between Nov. 30 and Dec. 9 last year. The selection panel, which included Councilman Bill Burgin, met Feb. 23 and had conference calls with all three finalists before unanimously voting for Culbertson's project. The Public Art Committee also was unanimous in its preference for Culbertson's idea. His project would be the first of some of the larger public art installations envisioned for Salisbury in the coming years.
The History and Art Trail also will install a series of bronze markers to identify individuals, places and events significant to Salisbury's history. Fabrication has started on the first marker and six more are designed and ready to be produced. Culbertson gave the selection panel a specially produced DVD to show how his project would look on its site from every angle, how it would be illuminated at night and how it would look in passing traffic. Perry and Lynn Raker, urban design planner for the city, played the DVD for council Tuesday.
"Could you tell he worked for Disney at one time?" Burgin asked after the DVD finished. Culbertson works out of North Smithfield, R.I.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263, or mwineka @salisburypost.com.©2006, The Salisbury Post
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