Art for MSC

"Hearkening Spirit"

Artist: Gene Stotts

Unveiling Ceremony - February 22, 2003
With music by the Matanuska Winds Brass Quintet

We may be receiving the artwork by the end of
September -- keep looking!
O.K.. -- maybe in December?
In May of 1999, Gene Stotts' entry was chosen from a total of eight artists in a Call for Proposals.  Regents Policy and Alaska Statute 35.27.010-030 mandates that any state facility will use 1% of the total cost of the project towards artwork.  Mr. Stotts' work, entitled "Hearkening Spirit" is a 5 foot, 6 inch tall bronze sculpture finished with a patina.

The sculpture, entitled Hearkening Spirit, was designed by art instructor Robert Eugene "Gene" Stotts, and within the next two years it will be constructed and installed on the front lawn of Mat-Su College (MSC) to fulfill the college's one percent for art requirement.

The state requires the construction costs of any new public building or facility worth $250,000 or more to include works of art such as sculptures, paintings and murals. The cost of the art is required to be at least one percent, or more, of the total construction cost.

Stotts' sculpture was chosen by an Art Selection Committee, with members from MSC's faculty, student body, staff, maintenance crew and the community.

The committee requested bids earlier this year, inviting artists around the country to submit proposals for a piece of art to be placed in a 3-square-foot grassy area at the entrance to the college's newest addition, the Fred and Sara Machetanz Building.

Stotts, who described his piece as a "visually aesthetic" work that embodies an "almost misty or spiritual image, hearkening one to stop and investigate," was thrilled at the opportunity to share his work with the college and the community.

"Oh, it's wonderful," Stotts said. "It's a real uplifting experience to know something I've done is going to be made larger and permanent and set in a public viewing area."

Stotts did not originally design the art form for the proposal. It developed as part of an experiment to see how pliable balsa wood is, what he could create with it, and "simply for the joy of making art." He had been working on a 12-inch abstract model of his work for the past year in a corner of his neat, spacious studio when he heard about the call for proposals.

"When I heard of the proposal I just went, yeah, I got something you might like," Stotts said. "I felt it would be a very beautiful piece for that setting."

"It is superior in every respect," said committee chairperson Carolyn Long. "It fits in well with all the things required in the proposal."

The art proposal asked for an art work that can sustain the weather since the piece will be outside reflect the "feel" of the campus, and encourage education.

Although all of the entries there were only a few had "good points," most were not appropriate for various reasons, Long said. Stotts' piece was the only one, she said, that really "related to the educational aspect we were looking for," and reflected aspects for which the committee hoped the community's perception of the college, student awareness of the college, or the extreme environment in which the campus is located.

Perhaps the reason Stotts' piece related more directly to the campus and the committee's ideas is because Stotts has been an instructor at Mat-Su College for the 17 years, teaching a variety of painting classes.

Long did not want anyone to misconstrue Stotts' selection. He was not chosen, she said, because of his status at the campus.

"His piece was just superior in every respect," Long said.

Stotts will receive a budget of $25,000 to complete Hearkening Spirit. The money will be used for professional design, labor, materials, installation, cost of insurance for the duration of the project, and photographic documentation.

The finished piece will be bronze, with a blue patina, and stand approximately 5-feet, 6-inches tall. The sculpture will be cast by a foundry in Oregon known for its wildlife and monument castings, Stotts said. The bronzing process of the top portion will probably take the longest, he said. Thus, although he will begin preparing the foundation for the piece this year, it will probably not be completed until next year.