Artist MacRae Wylde poses with his sculpture, “Truth Inside,” after it was installed in the fall of 2021. The 5’ x 11’ steel sculpture on the city’s Riverwalk, among the first to be erected as part of the First City Public Sculpture Exhibition, is currently for sale. A buyer will need to come forward before this summer or it will be returned to the artist. Sun-Commercial file photo
To learn more
For more information about the sculpture project visit www.artspacevincennes.com. To inquire about purchasing one of the pieces, contact Andy Jendrzejewski at (812) 887-6145.
A fabric of local art installations is at risk of unraveling unless donors soon step forward.
Organizers of the First City Public Sculpture Exhibition say the deadline to purchase the first seven sculptures — installed in 2020 — is quickly approaching.
After June 30, the large sculptures that have brightened the city’s landscape the past few years will be returned to the artists who created them — unless they are purchased for private or public use.
Since the project’s inception, nearly 20 original works have been installed throughout the city, but only one of those has been purchased — by the Vincennes/Knox County Visitors and Tourism Bureau — for permanent placement.
“There has been talk about purchasing some of them, but nothing has been finalized,” says Andy Jendrzejewski.
One sculpted piece from the original seven, however, has been donated by the artist and will remain permanently in Vincennes.
The first sculpture installed in 2020, “Travelogue,” is made of branch-like aluminum lines and is in the shape of a canoe.
The piece, which currently sits at Clark’s Crossing, located at Fifth and Perry streets, has been donated by Indiana artist Eric Nordgulen.
Jendrzejewski says someone has expressed interest in purchasing “Truth Inside” by MacRae Wylde, but the 5’ x 11’ steel sculpture on the city’s Riverwalk is still currently up for grabs.
The sculptures removed by the artists will leave behind empty concrete bases that have held and anchored the work.
“We will have all those bases, so we may find new sculptures to fit the specific bases — that’s one possibility,” Jendrzejewski said.
But that decision, he says, will largely be left to the new incoming project chair and committee.
The First City Public Sculpture Exhibition was taken on by the Northwest Territory Art Guild, specifically artists Andy Jendrzejewski and Amy DeLap, retired professors from Vincennes University and the owners of Art Space Vincennes LLC.
DeLap and Jendrzejewski agreed at the end of 2019 to commit three years to the significant undertaking.
Now they say it’s time to pass the baton.
“Originally we said we would do it for three years and then bow out, but there has been enough of an interest in the project that we will help it continue,” Jendrzejewski said. “But I’m giving leadership over to Sarah.”
The pair say that local artist Sarah Wolfe stepped forward last year to accept the responsibility of chairing the sculpture project, with DeLap and Jendrzejewski offering guidance and assistance this first year.
“Part of (Wolfe’s) rationale was that she’s not starry-eyed and has served on various boards and understands a lot about how things like this work,” DeLap said, adding that she’s encouraged by Wolfe’s background.
This year it will be Wolfe who soon puts out the call for artwork for the 2023 class of sculptures, continuing a project that — as DeLap describes it — has “taken on a life of its own now.”
Aside from a few negative comments, the pair say the community has been overwhelmingly supportive of the sculpture project, and they’ve been moved by the way the public has engaged with the work.
“In the big picture, we were trying to do something that’s hard to explain verbally,” DeLap said, pleased to see the way the work has resonated with or inspired so many in the community.
“It’s made it all worthwhile,” Jendrzejewski said humbly, reflecting on the past three years.
The public art project has received support from private donors, the City of Vincennes, and the Indiana Arts Commission..
Pieces so far have been placed at Gregg Park, along the city’s Riverwalk, on the campus of Vincennes University, downtown, and outside the Elihu Stout building at 702 Main St., to name a few.
Copyright ©2024 Vincennes Sun Commercial