The Frost Art Museum and Margulies Sculpture Park

On January 10, Bay Oaks Social Seniors traveled to the East coast to see the Margulies Sculpture Park and the Frost Art Museum on the campus of Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Famous artist Martin Margulies donated many of his famous sculptures to the park in 1994, so that they could be widely appreciated.

The park is recognized as the largest and most important collection of sculpture on a university campus. These art sculptures were a loan to the University and over the years they became part of the soul of the institution. The university continues to add to the campus structural landscape by means of outright purchases, commissions, donations or loans. Regardless of how they are acquired,  they enhance the experience of walking through campus.

 Journey’s End 

Sculpted by artist Ilan Averbuch in 1985, ‘Journey’s End’, is made of granite and wood. It resembles a seafaring vessel that has taken on water. Some refer to it as ‘Noah’s Ark,’ but it looks to me like a Viking ship.  We walked past this sculpture on the way from the parking lot to the museum.

The Herbert & Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center anchors the Sculpture Park directly across the street from the Frost Art Museum.

MARGULIES SCULPTURE PARK

The front of the Frost Art Museum, with sculpture 'Roots' II, 2008, by Steve Tobin

Museum long view

Sculpture Park, long view

Earlene & Albert Dotson Pavilion, facing the Sculpture Park

‘Composition in Diamond’ by Jean Claude Rigaud,  2004

‘Caramel’ in painted steel by Anthony Caro,  1975

‘Roots’ by Steve Tobin, 2008, with ‘Argosy’ by Alexander Liberman, 1980, the red sculpture far in the background

Pick-up Sticks (my title) & ‘Lean, Steel/Painted Red’ by John Henry

‘Red Universal/Universal Grid’ in steel with rust patina by Lydia Azout, 1999

‘Forth Bridge’ by Charles Ginnever, 2007 

‘Dualitat’ in Corten steel by Elisa Arimany, 2004 

Sculpture Park long view, towards entry point

‘Fire Tree’ fabricated steel by Adam Garey, 2000

‘Big Twister, Clown, Crane’ by Arnie Zimmerman, 1982

'Archway’ aluminum by Linda Howard, 1991

Entrance to the Frost Art Museum

Founded in 1977 as The Art Museum at Florida International University, it has grown to become a major cultural institution of the State of Florida for its unprecedented collection of Latin American and 20th century American art.

‘A Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love or Where You Goin’ with that Gun in your Hand’ in white carrara marble by Daniel Joseph Martinez, 2005

 ‘Search for Knowledge,’ 2008, in Pink Portugal marble by Pablo Atchugarry 

'Aguas de Rio’ (River Waters) by Manuel Mendive bronze w stone base, 2013

Bay Oaks Social Seniors sitting in the Margulies Sculpture Park outside the Frost Art Museum

THE FROST ART MUSEUM

The new Frost Art Museum is a 46,000-square-foot facility, which opened in November, 2008. The structure features a three-story glass atrium entrance and a suspended staircase leading to the second and third floors containing over 9,000 sq ft of exhibition space. Three of the nine galleries are dedicated to the permanent collection, while the remaining six galleries feature temporary exhibitions. The museum has received great acclaim for its collection of Latin American and 20th century American art, its innovative exhibitions and its unparalleled service to South Florida's diverse audiences. 

The Master’s of Art Education Exhibit showcases the work of three individuals who have just completed a rigorous program of study for the Master’s degree in Art Education at FIU.

Master’s of Art Education Exhibit - Children

Master’s of Art Education Exhibit - A Long Ago Era

Master’s of Art Education Exhibit - Tropics

Master’s of Art Education  Exhibit - Euterpe by Maitejosune Urrechaga 

Floating stairs

The docent just outside the Stella & J. Burton Orr Pavilion

‘Songs’ in tropical wood by Charles Juhasz-Alvarado, 2017

Small, elongated wooden cylinders capped on either end by rounded elements, hanging from a metal armature. Each wooden piece makes a sound resembling a bird call when the top and bottom portions are pulled apart. FYI: The docent demonstrated a bird call with one of the little cylinders--very impressive. 

‘Untitled’ (stoic derivation) in acrylic by Adler Guerrier, 2016

‘Geo Dis-connect 3’ wall installation by Nayda Collazo-Llorens with 360 framed & collected map images, 2017

‘Fluid perceptions: Banyon as Metaphor’ oil on canvas by Lilian Garcia-Roig, 2016

‘Lost at Sea’ mixed media on aluminum by Edouard Duval-Carrié, 2014

‘SK-KO’ oil & oil skins collage on canvas by Angel Otero, 2013

The artist applies paint on glass, then peels off the paint to generate a textured “oil skin”  which is then attached to canvas. This painting represents a gate against the sky.

B & Don Carlin Pavilion

‘Maldorer 1 Chant’ by Marc Latamie using plastic cups, coffee grounds, string, gold chain & empty coffee packages, 2014-2016

‘Maldorer 1 Chant’ blue plastic cups with coffee grounds 

Suede Balls

'Wholesale Degradables’acrylic paint on plastic bags by Camille Chedda, 2014-2015

The artist works largely with plastic bags. The portraits on the bags make a statement about the disposability of certain lives in our current era.

Gallery overview

‘My Name is Europe Hi Europe’ oil & acrylic on canvas by David Bade, 2014

Fishman Family Pavilion

‘The intersection of a Table & a Piece of Lace’ Wooden table crocheted cotton by  Leyden-Rodriguez Casanova, 2009 (The meaning of this one is open to interpretation)

Docent in gallery with group. The sculpture is ‘Untitled’ triptych oil & commercial paint on wood  by Carlos Alfonzo, 1987

‘Spinning Around’ Wood, paint, paper collage on a wood base by Pepe Mar, 2008

‘Spinning Around’ close-up

‘Virgin of Sorrows’ oil on canvas, 18th century, Cusco School, Peru, Artist unknown

‘Russian Girl’ oil on linen by William Glackens, 1910

The Chihuly Collection in St. Pete

February 13, 2018
Located in the heart of St. Petersburg, the Morean Arts Center is made up of four separate attractions. The Chihuly Collection displays world-class glass art by  master glass sculptor, Dale Chihuly. Just across the street, the art in the Morean Galleries tends toward the modern and contemporary. Local artists are featured, and some of their art can be purchased in the shop. At the Glass Studio & Hot Shop behind the galleries,  you can watch glass being blown by resident artists.  Unusual glass art work is for sale in the glassware store. The final attraction, the Center for Clay, is all about pottery and is located in an old train station.

Morean Arts Center

Morean Galleries

Dale Chihuly is the most famous glass artist of our time. (The eye patch is a result of a car crash in 1976.) He is 76 years old (b. 1941) and gave up blowing his own glass several years ago, serving instead as the head of a creative team that includes glass blowers, installation experts and lighting designers, based at his Boathouse studio in Seattle. 

“Dale Chihuly is most frequently lauded for revolutionizing the Studio Glass movement by expanding its original premise of the solitary artist working in a studio environment to encompass the notion of collaborative teams and a division of labor within the creative process. However, Chihuly’s contribution extends well beyond the boundaries both of this movement and even the field of glass: his achievements have influenced contemporary art in general. Chihuly’s practice of using teams has led to the development of complex, multipart sculptures of dramatic beauty that place him in the leadership role of moving blown glass out of the confines of the small, precious object and into the realm of large-scale contemporary sculpture. In fact, Chihuly deserves credit for establishing the blown glass form as an accepted vehicle for installation and environmental art beginning in the late twentieth century and continuing today.”

Sarah, Susan, Darlene, Marlene & Pauline at the entry to the Chihuly Collection

Gift Shop umbrellas

Gift shop art glass bowls

Marlene & Pauline in the gift shop  

Gift shop art glass - Tourquoise Flare

Flux 

The artwork of Shayna Leib, glass artist, is featured in  a small gallery preceding the Chihuly exhibits. Her inspiration comes from growing up by the Pacific Ocean on the central coast of California (FYI: The prices for her artwork were listed along with the art. They ranged from a one-panel piece, Flux,  for $32,000 to a more complicated piece, Biochroma V, for $92,000. Malvinas wasn’t for sale.) 

Shayna Leib -  Two Seas

Shayna Leib - Sunset over the Tundra

Biochroma V (Size: 30” x 62” x 8” )

Malvinas NFS

Macchia Forest

In another conservatory gallery, there is a series of nine multi-colored, flower-like forms placed on pedestals from 4 to 12 feet in height to create a “forest.”  Chihuly calls the wavy bowls “Macchia,” literally “spotted or splashed with color.” The “Macchia Forest” sculptures (2004)  use innovative techniques to layer many colors without allowing them to bleed together. 

Macchia Forest

Macchia Forest

Macchia Forest

Macchia Forest

Mille Fiori

From the Italian for a “thousand flowers,” components of the Mille Fiori series (2010) resemble glass vegetation, such as antherium, reeds, cattails, cacti and ferns. Combined, these installations create a magical glass garden, displayed on a raised oval black platform that has a mirror-like surface. The size of this “garden” is 10 ½ x 33 ½ x 10 ½ feet.

Mille Fiori

Mille Fiori

Mille Fiori

Mille Fiori

 Ruby Red Icicle Chandelier (2010)

His “chandelier” sculptures are Chihuly’s signature form.  They consist of  individually blown horns, spirals and other forms he calls feathers, stingers and goosenecks. 

Close-up of chandelier

Verdant Green Ikebana with Emerald Leaf  and 2 Stems (2002), 

 inspired by the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement

Venetian series  - brilliantly-colored glasswork inspired by art deco Venetian glass from the 1920s and 30s

The 30-foot long Persian Ceiling (2008) has glass elements that cast color shadows  as you walk beneath it.

 Float Boat (2007)

Chihuly first started filling boats with blown glass objects in Finland in 1995. He was there for an exhibition when he noticed young boys filling their rowboats with glass pieces he'd been discarding into the river.

Persian Sunset Wall (2010)

Persian Sunset Wall  (25 feet long)

Azul de Medianoche Chandelier (Midnight Blue Chandelier) 2004 

  in front of the Drawing Wall (2009)

White Seaform Set (2010) with black lip-wraps look as if they are being swept to and fro underwater.

Carnival Chandelier (2009)

Scraggly glass shapes of the Blue Neon Tumbleweed (2009) illuminate the ceiling.

Entrance to Morean Arts Center

The Hotshop Glass Studio is a large, semi-outdoor workspace with a chain-link fence wall that allows natural ventilation.

Gift shop art glass

Sarah in gift shop

The Hot Shop

The forges are on one side of the room and seating for the audience is on the opposite side. The forge on the left heats the glass. The forge on the right (with an oven door handle) contains liquid clear glass. The technique “Hot Sculpting” is used when a solid metal rod gathers the molten glass from the furnace (on the right), and it is shaped with the use of special tools. 

Glass artist at work

An assistant gives a running commentary as the artist molds the glass. It was very interesting because we didn’t know what the artist was making. We watched the various steps of glassmaking, but the final product  was a surprise right up until the end of the demo. The “bubble” that the artist is working on has to be constantly heated in this oven (on the left) so that it can be molded into various shapes.

The “bubble” is at the end of the pole.

The artist is shaping the bubble.

The artist is “marbling” the bubble.

(Using a marble-topped surface to shape the bubble)

He is cutting the neck of the bubble. 

Then he grabbed the small end of the bubble with tongs and curled the glass outward. 

He is heating the bubble with a blow torch to keep the glass malleable.

The finished product was a striated conch shell.

Even though we watched every step of the process, seeing the final product was still a surprise--the artist worked with the molten glass in any number of ways, with different tools, and it seemed that he created something from nothing before our very eyes.

After the glassmaking demo, we had lunch at Trip’s, a very popular local diner.