Second Installment of Public Art Series to be Unveiled at Tattnall Square Park

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MACON – The Art Department in Mercer University's College of Liberal Arts is set to present the second installment in a series of public art exhibitions, titled “Art in the Park,” in Macon's Tattnall Square Park. The series of four exhibitions, which is funded by a Knight Neighborhood Challenge Grant, will take place over the next two years.

The second five-month installation will be unveiled on Nov. 14, with an opening reception from 6-7:30 p.m. The festivities will be in conjunction with College Hill's Make-End Festival, a maker's fair taking place Nov. 14-15 in the park.

The opening reception is free and open to the public. It will feature a walking tour of all the sculptures with a gallery talk with four of the artists. Refreshments and barbecue from Fincher's will be provided.

“Art in the Park has been a great success in introducing the idea of having art in the environment to the community,” said Craig Coleman, associate professor of art at Mercer. “Temporary public art exhibitions are a great cultural exchange, and the Art Department has enjoyed serving as cultural ambassadors in this regard. We are looking forward to future 'Art in the Park' exhibitions.”

The new public art installation is titled “Faculty Selects Invitational,” in which Mercer art faculty actively sought out submissions and invited the artists to participate. These seven artists will each receive a $1,000 stipend for their efforts. The second installation will remain on display in Tattnall Square Park through April 15, 2016.

The artists chosen for “Art in the Park: Faculty Selects Invitational” include:

Ryan Mathern

Rising from a pile of scrap pieces, the bones of a structure meant to evoke a skate ramp, the Fish, floating upward into The Deep, hung in the trees of a drowned world. That is Mathern's “Pisces Osseum,” now swimming in the breeze at Tattnall Square Park. For more on Mathern, visit www.facebook.com/FunkPirates.

Robert Harrison

After retiring from music in 2004, Harrison turned his focus towards a different kind of metal. Welding and metalworking became his creative drive and passion. His main focus has been fire sculptures, including “Singing Serpent,” now installed at Tattnall Square Park. For more on Harrison, visit www.flamewerx.com.

Marc Moulton

For Moulton, the attraction in public art lies in the aesthetic challenge of responding to the site boundaries while creating art that is both conceptually and visually successful. He establishes a sense of place through creating iconic landmarks, which are influenced by the community, history and the landscape of the surrounding area. He uses lighting to establish mood, serve as navigational markers and/or to present interactive elements for pedestrian enjoyment. Standing 8 feet tall, Moulton's “River's” can be used as a portal to view the surrounding landscape. For more on Moulton, visit www.stainless-sculpture.com.

Jenny K. Hager-Vickery 

Hager-Vickery is an associate professor of sculpture at the University of North Florida, where she is in her ninth year of teaching. She received her MFA in sculpture and digital media from San Jose State University in San Jose, California. Interested in a variety of processes and materials, including steel, cast iron, post-it notes, video, wood, digital photography and found objects, she finds inspiration in dreams, objects from her childhood, gadgets, sea life and other curiosities.

Hager-Vickery's sculpture “Dance of the Jellyfish” is a water jet cut drawing in steel, which has been powder coated. The jellyfish appears often in Hager's work and symbolizes her desire to fly. For more on Hager-Vickery, visit www.havic.org/jenny.

D. Lance Vickery

Vickery is an artist teaching sculpture at the University of North Florida. He received his MFA in sculpture from the University of Kentucky. His work balances between formalist aesthetics and conceptual considerations of materials. 

“Burdens of Flight” is an exploration of the tensions within aspirations and reality through line and form.

Zakriya Reece Rabani  

“I enjoy the surf and skate culture, and my work is a direct link to these worlds,” said Rabani. His sculpture, “Warped,” is an overwhelming, strong wall-like metal piece with a system of lines that ebb and flow.

Michael J. Bauman  

Bauman was raised on the edge of the Everglades swamp. It is here on the edge of reality and fantasy that he creates his artistic practice. As a social engagement artist, he explores themes of gender, commodity, urbanization and the “absurdity of culture,” specifically the hyper-masculinized expectation of the Southern American male by creating a mythos of the cruel and illogical. 

Bauman has exhibited in galleries across the United States and Europe, receiving a BFA in sculpture from University of Florida and an MFA from the University of South Florida.