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It
takes a vision. Who would
have ever thought that downtown
Jackson would be home of a national
sculpture tour? It’s already
happened thanks to Union University’s
President Dr. David Dockery,
Sculpture Tour Director Aaron
Lee Benson and Jackson’s City
Mayor Charles Farmer (originators
of J.U.S.T. the Jackson TN/Union
University Sculpture Tour).
It all began in 1999 with
the architectural sculpture,
“Beth-El”, located in Unity
Park directly across from the
Civic Center. (That’s
the huge cement seven- column,
free-falling water, multiple
stone sphere construction we
all see on our way through downtown.)
“Beth-El” was conceived and
designed by Union University
art professors Lee Benson and
Chris Nadaskay in memory of
the Jackson community’s response
to the devastating tornadoes
of January 1999. Immediately
following came the organization
of a competitive/juried sculpture
tour that each year for five
years would bring the work of
five nationwide sculptors to
downtown Jackson. As an
added bonus, one of the pieces
will be selected for purchase
by the city and permanently
installed downtown! (For the
skeptics out there…not to worry,
the annual purchase award is
only $3,000…pennies when it
comes to such exceptional public
art procurement! Couple
this with the $1,000 honorarium
given to each of the five selected
annually to cover transportation,
installation, and de-installation
of each sculpture…a bargain
in the world of outdoor sculpture!)
This means
the City of Jackson will soon
own five beautiful outdoor sculptures
while having the privilege of
viewing twenty-five distinctive
sculptures throughout those
same five years.
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All
this began with the 2003-2004
competition. Jackson is now
the proud owner of “Earthen
Passage” by Glenn Zweygardt
(New York), installed at the
corner of Lafayette and Highland;
“Gethsemane” Shawn Morin (Ohio),
installed at the Civic Center;
and “Reaching for the Sun” by
Wayne Trapp (North Carolina),
installed at the Carnegie Center
for Arts and History. You
might have noticed that many
of last year’s competition pieces
have already been removed. Final
installation for the 2005-2006
tour pieces will be complete
by Friday September 23rd, just
in time for this year’s opening
reception to honor the selected
artists and their works.
Of
the nearly 75 entries in this
year’s competition, the following
five were chosen: “Untitled
#2” by James Davis of North
Carolina (this year’s purchase
award winner), “Zachary’s Angel”
by Shawn Morin of Ohio, “S.U.B.
Curiosity” by Rian Kerrane of
Colorado, “Suggestive Nature
#1” by Mark Guilbeau of Colorado,
and “Selective Memory” by Chris
Wubbena of Mississippi.
The 2005-2006
J.U.S.T. Opening Reception will
be held Friday, September 23rd
at 7:00pm at the Carnegie Center
for Arts and History, 304 E.
College, downtown. Join
me for another year celebrating
artistic vision and public expression
in our very own downtown Jackson.
Thank you Union University
and the City of Jackson! For
more information stop by the
Dickson Gallery of Fine Art
to pick up a location map and
description brochure of this
year’s J.U.S.T.
Dickson
is the owner of The Dickson
Gallery of Fine Art at 118 E
Lafayette Street. She may be
contacted by email at rachel@dicksongallery.com
or by phone at 423-9708.
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