JOYCE AUDY ZARINS - ArtInPlace

I am posting regularly on the recent placement of the 2008-2009 ArtInPlace public sculptures along the byways of Charlottesville. Please follow me in this series as I give you a little tour...

At no point in the selection process was I particularly moved by the piece submitted by Massachusetts sculptor Joyce Audy Zarins called Strobus (as in Pinus Strobus... or eastern white pine... or pine cone for short), but other jurors voiced their approval. In the collective voting process, Strobus made the first cut (I never voted for it). During the final rounds of cuts, I could tell certain jurors felt strongly enough about it that I resisted opposition (I exercised diplomacy since I needed their support on some of my favorites).

Now that Strobus is in its place, I’m even more disappointed. Turns out, the photos of Strobus Ms. Zarins provided were of the painted steel piece as it was exhibited on Chicago's Navy Pier... in 2003. Five years of exposure has done nothing for it. Now, sitting on the Fifth Street median near the intersection of Cherry Street, it looks weathered, tired and faded. Maybe during the winter, with a dusting of snow over it, Strobus will come to life.

      

A little bit about Ms. Zarins: Joyce Audy Zarins was born in 1949 and grew up in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Her interests in art and the phenomena of nature developed consistently, leading her to Massachusetts College of Art, then later to the University of New Hampshire and eventually the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where she used natural materials and forms in her work and experimented with new media. She has received grants for sculpture performances and outdoor installations relating to natural forces.

Comments

[jennifer]

I LOVE this series on art in place. thank you for the first hand look at the process and your take on the Art.

[Rob Jones]

Thanks, Jennifer. I enjoyed being a part of the process and enjoy writting about it even more. Stay tuned for the rest of the tour.
-Rob