Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Public art makes an entrance

By TERRI BRYCE REEVES
Published January 3, 2007

	Ulli Kampelmann's glass art is the first installment of public art in Clearwater. She has lived in the city for four years.
[Times photo: Thomas Whisenand]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Thomas Whisenand] A visitor looks at a piece by glass artist Ulli Kampelmann that is hanging in the Municipal Services Building. The art results from an ordinance for a public art requirement for development projects.

CLEARWATER - This city is poised to have a more artistic future, defined by fountains, sculptures, mosaics, murals and colorful glass architecture.

In October 2006, the city passed an ordinance establishing a public art requirement for both public and private development projects. In doing so, it joined the likes of about 350 cities, including Seattle, Chicago, New York and Toledo, Ohio, as well as Tampa and St. Petersburg.

The ordinance took effect Oct. 1, and last month, the city unveiled its first official installment of public art in the lobby of the Municipal Services Building.

"It's a glimpse into the future of Clearwater," said Christopher Hubbard, the city's newly appointed public art specialist.

Twelve glass windows of colors and modern geometric shapes are attached about 15 feet high to the building's interior. As the sun moves across the sky, the pieces cast subtle colors into the otherwise drab lobby.

The installation, valued at about $30,000, is from Ulli Kampelmann, a glass artist who was born in East Germany and escaped past the Berlin Wall in 1975 by hiding in the trunk of a car.

To create the window pieces, she painted images onto the glass and fired them in a kiln.

The artist and designer has exhibited and installed her works throughout the world, including the main showroom of Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany, Stuttgart International Airport, and a major hotel convention in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Her pieces are found in banks, showrooms, office buildings and even castles. Private collectors, galleries and residences have commissioned her.

During a formal presentation in the lobby, Kampelmann exhibited some of her unique approaches to glass art, which include the ability to turn a switch and make clear glass instantly opaque and turn on tiny lights that appear to be wireless and floating within the glass.

"No one else is doing this in the United States," she said, referring to the lights.

"It's a program that aims to reflect the city's diversity, character and heritage," Hubbard said. "These artworks and designs will be integrated throughout the city's architecture, infrastructure and landscape.

"In the future, it should make for a city that's even more vibrant and alive," he said.

Terri Bryce Reeves can be reached at treeves@tampabay.rr.com.

[Last modified January 2, 2007, 20:50:25]