Stone and Steel Sculpture Completes First Step of Living Gallery Project at UMass Dartmouth
Sculptor, Landscape Artist and UMass Dartmouth College of Visual & Performing Arts (CVPA) Alumnus Ron Rudnicki has recently completed "Gerry's Window", a stone and steel work, located in the center of the nautilus bench adjacent to the CVPA Building on the university's main campus.
"Gerry's Window" attempts to represent the human manipulation of cut stone with stone shaped by natural elements. The steel is a metaphor for a window in a building where one can gaze beyond where they stand.
"The work is based on nature and human nature, all encompassing. I give a physical object to look at, but the focal point is looking through and beyond," said Mr. Rudnicki. "The window in this case acknowledges Gerry's special vision. Human nature doesn't always coincide with natural processes. We are all unique but on common ground, each with our own visions in nature."
Mr. Rudnicki received his MFA in Visual Design/Sculpture from UMass Dartmouth. His works have been featured in exhibits at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, the Fuller Craft Museum, and the Newport Art Museum. He has received numerous awards for his works, including the prestigious Boston Society of Landscape Architects Award. Presently, he has a solo sculpture exhibition at the New Bedford Art Museum entitled "The Nature of Art" until June 13. The Sculptor, Landscape Artist will also lead a Garden/Sculpture tour on May 31 through the museum at his studio grounds in East Freetown.
"Gerry's Window" is an initial step toward a larger vision of a sculpture garden or park on campus, as part of the UMass Dartmouth Living Gallery project. The Living Gallery is an initiative begun by UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Divina Grossman to bring together university, local, and regional cultural and artistic leaders to reimagine the UMass Dartmouth campus as an artistic and architectural destination.
"Paul Rudolph's bold modernist vision thrives at UMass Dartmouth, reflected in the imposing buildings with breathtaking cantilevered bays," said Chancellor Grossman. "The goal of the Living Gallery is to reimagine and fulfill the vision of Rudolph's design through strategic new landscaping, sculptures, and murals."
Paul Rudolph, the original architect of the campus, was one of the leading architects in America in the 1950s and 60s. He designed UMass Dartmouth with an overall vision of creating an academic utopia. UMass Dartmouth's campus design was considered ground-breaking in its day and remains a monumental achievement. The recent renovation of the Claire T. Carney Library has won numerous architecture awards.
"Gerry's Window" will be followed by a series of pilot projects this year, which will include scheduled lightings of the Robert Karam Campanile. The Campanile stands between the Claire T. Carney Library and the Foster Administration building. Modernist architect Paul Rudolph, who designed the UMass Dartmouth campus in the early 1960s, included the campanile in his earliest sketches, as it was very important to his vision. An additional pilot project will be the installation of hanging gardens for this year's Commencement Exercises. Hanging gardens were part of Paul Rudolph's original design so much so that mechanisms to support the gardens were installed and remain to this day.