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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to Distribute Pollywog Pond!

6/4/2018

The nations largest text book publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, will be distributing Bill Culbertson's preschool video game, Pollywog Pond in the Fall of 2016 on their new Marketplace. The Marketplace is a new e-commerce site targeting the nations k-12 teachers. The store is also open to the public for sales. The game, a portal to music, reading, and activities features the Pollywog Pond characters, Derb, Berb, Waddle and Weep.

Visit Pollywogpond.com for information about the game.

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The East Innes Portal

6/4/2018

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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

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Tampa Centennial Keep

6/4/2018

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The Tampa Tribune For a .pdf copy of article with photos, please click here!

Depot Clock Tells History
By SEAN LENGELL [email protected]
Published: Oct 18, 2003

TAMPA - Time isn't standing still at Tampa's 91-year-old Union Station.

A freestanding 30-foot clock tower has been installed outside the downtown train depot, featuring four clock faces and images representing the city's railroad history.

The piece, called the Centennial Clock Keep, was commissioned by the Tampa Public Art Program for $35,000.

``It's certainly one of the most complex [artworks] we've done, by design and construction,'' Public Art Administrator Robin Nigh said.

Designed by Rhode Island artist Bill Culbertson, the concrete structure features dozens of graphic and pictorial reliefs , including Florida railroad magnet Henry Plant, logos of passenger train lines that once served Tampa, and Henry Love, Union Station's first manager.

A brick base will be installed soon.

``The whole thing is the history of the train station,'' Culbertson said. ``I'm trying to make people happy and hopefully make something local people can be proud of.''

Culbertson said he designed the ornate clock box at the top of the column to resemble the station's long-demolished watchman's tower. The tower was used as a lookout by railroad workers to direct trains.

Union Station, 601 N. Nebraska Ave., was built in 1912. The building, now an Amtrak depot, was restored in 1998 for $2.6 million.

Reporter Janis D. Froelich contributed to this story. Reporter Sean Lengell can be reached at (813) 259-7145

The installation was also covered by Fox Television in Tampa for the 6 O'clock news.

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Serious Play Conference Speaker

6/4/2018

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July 11, Bill Culbertson will be speaking at the Serious Play Conference being held in Buffalo, NY. The talk, along with co-author, Jesse Jacobson discussed the issues and challenges of developing game projects between education and industry.

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