Window-themed art project to have kickoff Wednesday

Monday, May 03, 2004

Downtown Bowling Green is now dotted with window-themed art projects. There are sculptures, paintings and even windows hanging from a tree, sitting outside historic homes, businesses, parks and the courthouse. Its all part of Bowling Greens first public art installation the Windows on Preservation City Art Project which will officially kick off Wednesday during national Preservation Week. There are two things I want people to get out of this, said Robin Zeigler, historic preservation planner for the Bowling Green-Warren County Historic Preservation Board. One is for people to realize what great talent we have right here. Two, for people to think about historic preservation. The preservation board is producing WIndows on Preservation with local artist Andee Rudloff, and has received help from Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children, Landmark Association and local arts supporter Kari McCloud. The project is modeled after Cows on Parade, which was set up in Chicago in 1999, and Nashvilles Catfish Out of Water, for which Rudloff painted two of the 51, 7-foot-long fiberglass catfish on display. But unlike the Nashville and Chicago art projects, Bowling Green artists werent given a premade form on which to create art. Sculptor Donnie Firkins Floral Serpentine piece, which is on display in Fountain Square Park, is modeled after a gate he once made, and features stained glass to reflect windows seen locally, he said. Cherubs on the piece are reminiscent of ones he created on a fireplace. Firkins has worked all over the United States and in South America. He wanted to do a public art installation here years ago, but didnt get much response from artists at the time. Now, hes thrilled to be part of this exhibit, which will run through June 4.Im just excited to see art in public, and to see that people are turned on by seeing it in public, he said. Scottsville physician Ray Cloutier is excited by the show, too. He created a watercolor of the downtown building that now holds Barbara Stewart Interiors. This is my favorite window in Bowling Green, he wrote for the projects brochure. When I was a kid I dreamed of practicing medicine from an old roll-top desk in an office over a drug store, like the Norman Rockwell painting. When I first moved to Bowling Green, a drugstore occupied this corner, just as I had envisioned it. Of course I never practiced medicine upstairs, but the window has always been there to remind me of the kind of doctor I wanted to be. Cloutiers watercolor of the building is now on display inside a law office at 921 College St. He hopes those who see it will go away thinking it evokes memories of the square when they were little in a different time, a different age. Other Windows on Preservation projects are at the following locations:At RiverWalk Park on Riverview Drive is an untitled collection of works by students from Bellewood. At 201 State St. is Megan Reschs Down on Main Street, which is collage, charcoal, paint and found objects. At 439 State St. is Kim Soules Color Dance of Glass, which is made of a window, glass beads, cut glass and silicone. At Sixth Avenue and State Street is Sandy Zeiglers Cartoon Building a painted wood, cartoon-style version of a building. At 553 E. Main Ave. is Rosemary Swains ceramic A Tribute to Covered Windows. At 904 State St. is Angie Alexieffs coffee table made from wood, glass, paint, paper and metal. It is titled New Frontiers in Preservation … The Ranch. At 916 State St. is Sandy Zeiglers Preserves, an interpretation of canned fruit preserves. At 915 College St. is Sandy Zeiglers Shop Window, which was painted on canvas. At 1003 State St. is Ronnie Jaggers metal, stained and blown glass Window: Mankind Mirrors to the World. At 10th Avenue and College Street is Sandy Zeiglers Window Leaves, which was made of painted canvas banners and windows. At 1310 College St. is Richard Whitakers wood Windows to the World for Little Martins. At 1357 State St. is Rita Rudloffs untitled, 100-year-old window that has new stained glass on top of old ripple glass. At 1327 State St. is Colby Woodards Metamorphosis, which is made of glass, wood and sand. At 1311 State St. is an untitled piece by a student at Bellewood of wood painted to look like a building. At 1267 State St. is Rita Rudloffs untitled painted window. At 1302 Chestnut St. is Patty Schauer-Scotts untitled stained glass piece. At 524 12th Ave. is Sandy Zeiglers Bouquet of Memories, which is made of cast aluminum, laminated photos, steel rods and clamps. At 712 E. 10th Ave. is C. David Jones South of Eden, which is oil on board behind a window with glass. To kick off the official viewing of the pieces, there will be a concert in Fountain Square Park featuring Banjo Bill and Dax Evans, and food for sale by Spencers Coffee House on the Square and Doggie Dog, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday. To vote for your favorite Windows on Preservation piece, send a postcard with the name of the artist and/or the title of the artwork to Zeigler at BG-WC Historic Preservation Board, 1141 State St., Bowling Green, KY 42101. You can also vote by e-mailing your top choice to zeigr91@bgky.org. You can pick up a Windows brochure at Spencers, 915 College St.; at the Downtown Redevelopment Authority office, 432 Main Ave.; or at Lot 916, 916 State St. A map of the sites of the pieces is in Fountain Square Park. Windows-related items are available to purchase at www.cafepress.com/windowsbg. The windows will be auctioned at a closing party at 5:30 p.m. June 4. Proceeds will benefit the artists, Landmark Association and Bellewood. Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700