Public Art "Deer"

These three sets of bronze sculptures of Mule Deer, which are named "Deer", are located on the Neil-Kietske roundabout and were created by local artist Michael Boyce in 2008.  Boyce is a long time resident of Nevada.  His love of art began when he was very young, and he continues to create his work based on the way we as humans are connected to our planet and wildlife.

"Drift Walk"

     My "Drift Walk" started on Arlington Ave. and Commercial Row.  I then headed in a southerly direction going a little south west then south east and back to where I began.  I went down streets, around the river, down some alleys and through some abandoned parking lots.

     The thing that really stuck out to me was all the garbage, shopping carts and even feces, human or animal?, that was in spots under and around bushes, and in the corners and hidden away parts of the abandoned parking lots.  It was obvious to me that people had spent some time there.

     One question I asked myself was; why all the garbage and feces, where people obviously spent time?  Is this how they would live in their own homes?  Is their depth of despair really that low?  So how does anyone go from that depth to any type of normalcy?  There needs to be a middle ground.

Visual Literacy

     In doing my research out of the book "A World of Art" by Henry M. Sayre.  The two pieces of artwork that I was researching were both tittled "Treaty Signing at Medicine Creek Lodge".  One was done by John Taylor and the other by Howling Wolf.  In my opinion the artwork by Taylor is representational and the work of Wolf's is abstract.  Taylor's work is a black and white drawing filling the page.  His was taken from the actual sketch he did at the scene in 1867 and then printed in a newspaper.  Wolf's is a colored drawing using pencil, crayon and ink drawn sparsely on a white background.  He created this some ten years later sometime between 1875-1878.
      Taylor's drawing depicts a more realistic appearing view of the scene with the landscape and modest sketches of people.  The view looking at the drawing is as if Taylor was sitting or standing just outside the signing ceremony.  On the other hand since Wolf's drawing is more abstract it is structured differently.  With the view looking at the drawing, as if your looking down from the sky onto the signing ceremony.  The people and the trees are more spread out over the drawing.
     I believe in Wolf's drawing that the confluence of Medicine Creek and the Arkansas are there to symbolize the two sides coming together.  The way that the people are situated in both drawing also says something to me.  In Taylor's drawing the Native Americans seem to be more confined to one particular area.  In Wolf's drawing the people are seated in a more prominent way throughout the drawing suggesting to me that the Native Americans felt they had more ownership over the land.
     In Taylor's drawing of the Native Americans they appear to all have a similar look, which I believe is what white people in those days might think the Native Americans looked like.  Also in viewing the two drawings it is clear to see that the absence of women in Taylor's drawing suggests that at that time women had little to no value.  However, in contrast, Wolf's drawing has women drawn throughout that appear to be viewing the signing ceremony.  Which suggests to me that the Native Americans did value there women or at least have a certain respect for them. 

"Silueta" Series

By Ana Mendieta

Ana Mendieta was born in Havana, Cuba on November 18, 1948. Then in 1961 during the revolution of Fidel Castro was part of operation "Pedro Pan". Where thousands of children were flown out of Cuba. She was put into an orphanage in Iowa. In 1972 she graduated from the University of Iowa with a Masters of Art degree.
It was between 1973 and 1980 that she created her series entitled "Silueta". The ideas for her creations using landscapes with her own silhouette were born from the intense inner struggles that she's dealt with, since that fateful day when she was just thirteen years old and was riped away from her homeland. During her art career she won two very prestigious awards and her artwork has been exhibited world wide.
Unfortunately at the age of thirty six in 1985, she meet with a very mysteries and untimely death, when she fell out of a window.
http://www.alonsoart.com/artist_view.php?id_artist=3http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.virginiamiller.com/exhibitions/1990s/images/AM4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.virginiamiller.com/exhibitions/1990s/AnaMendieta.html&usg=__aQfKZnUHb97tKFeTY5JX4KREAic=&h=445&w=313&sz=28&hl=en&start=3&sig2=OpTMPSTOeIpQTmZZ6muQ2w&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=jJDZER65WccT_M:&tbnh=127&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dana%2Bmendieta%2Bsilueta%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=K2aeTKXoAYKisQO734TWAQhttp://www.angelfire.com/ia/tridar/ana.html

"The Fate of the Written Word"

By Chester Arnold

Chester Arnold was born in Santa Monica, California.  Shortly after that in 1957 he and his family moved to Munich, Germany where he attended school there until 1969, and during this time he attended an art exhibit by Max Beckmann; he was an artist who painted with a lot of spiritual dimension and who greatly inspired Arnold in his artwork.  Shortly after he and his family returned to the United States where he continued his studies through the 1970's.  He was the first in his family to go to college and by the late 1980's had become the father of two daughters.  Chester Arnold currently lives in Sonoma, California.

While I was attending the "Chester Arnold" exhibit entitled "On Earth as it is in Heaven", at the Nevada Museum of Art and viewing all of his paintings that were on display there, it was clear for me to see that these paintings have a lot to do with his view on the role that society is/isnt taking in its responsibility of our planet.  Yet the titles seem to suggest a biblical or at least spiritual meaning.  While there, I was drawn to one particular painting because of its title, "The Fate of the Written Word" which was created in 2007 and is done on linen with oil paint and is 64x72 inches.  The painting is a scene of an old cracked road with trees on either side, and scattered all over the road and all around the trees appears to be peoples garbage, which consists of paper, old shoes,an old tire from a car, a book, a picture frame, old cardboard boxes, a cup and even a roll of toilet paper.

My first interpretation of this painting, because of its title was that it showed human beings blatant disregard for the Bible (the Lord's written word), and all that is contained within it.  By the types of items on the road and the way they were just thrown about, it seems to say how nothing seems to matter much to people.  However, another interpretation could be that before not to long human beings may no longer have any need for the pen and paper, because of technology and the fact that most everything is done on computers.  It's clear to see that through Arnolds art work he is expressing his deep concern for humanity and our world.  Is he then through his artwork trying to get people to also feel the intense concern for humanity?