Now is the time to voice your opinion — or at least take a survey — about public art that will be exhibited in Burlington. Four works of art are finalists for a $43,000 commission at the John Zampieri State Office Building at 108 Cherry St., which houses the Vermont Department of Health and offices of the Vermont Agency of Human Services.
Preliminary design concepts and descriptions of the artworks, each made by a Vermont artist, are posted on the Vermont Arts Council’s website. The public can view the proposals and comment until December 14.
The four artists are Phil Godenschwager of Randolph, Dan Gottsegen of Woodstock, Kathryn Wiegers of Rutland and Noa Younse of Richmond.
The final selection will be made by a committee whose members include building employees and art experts, according to a release from the Vermont Arts Council.
Godenschwager proposes a single-panel glass mosaic. In his proposal, he writes: “I approach public art of any scale with a sense of finding a story to tell.” Godenschwager envisions telling his story through the image of a tree — “the tree being a metaphor for the community which is served.”
Gottsegen imagines a series of glass panels to welcome visitors to the building. Their appearance would change “with [the] time of day and season and angle of the sun.” He would “gather imagery from sources related to the agencies and
constituencies.”
Wiegers proposes a large outdoor mural that draws its theme from the natural world of New England. The painting, she wrote, would “bring about a sense of wonder, exploration and joy to anyone passing by.”
Younse’s proposed installation is titled “Empowering a Healthier Tomorrow.” The piece would be a “a living sculpture that will continue to inform after it is installed,” he wrote. A series of scorecards would indicate how the state is performing on a set of health indicators, relative to its goals.
The commission in Burlington is part of the Vermont Art in State Buildings program. More than two dozen works have been installed since the 1988 establishment of the program, according to the arts council. The most recent is a granite sculpture by Sean Williams, “The Origin of the River,” sited at the Roxbury Fish Culture Station.
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