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DBDA Public Art Program To Install New Sculpture at Boone Town Hall July 31

Story by Sam Calhoun Brian Glaze’s Learn To Fly is the new piece of art chosen by the Boone Public Art Committee to replace Kevin Eichner’s works Meus Amor and Ferreus Intumus at the Boone Town Hall parking lot sculpture site. Glaze’s work will be installed on Thursday, July 31, and will remain on display for one year. The last day to view Eichner’s works is Friday, July 25. Photos submitted

Almost a year has passed since the Downtown Boone Development Association Public Art Program installed its first piece of art in downtown Boone, adding character and culture to the centrally located Boone Town Hall parking lot.

Since August 2007, Kevin Eichner’s works Meus Amor and Ferreus Intumus have welcomed visitors and locals into downtown Boone and on Thursday, July 31, both pieces will be replaced by Brian N. Glaze’s Learn To Fly.

As part of the Downtown Boone Development Association Public Art Sculpture Program, Moncure artist Eichner loaned his two sculptures to the Town of Boone for one year in exchange for an honorarium and travel expenses.

As the time for replacing Eichner’s sculptures approached, the Boone Public Art Committee sifted through a long list of entries and decided on Glaze’s Learn To Fly, one work of art split in two pieces that is described as an abstract compilation of shapes and pyramids and gives the impression of movement between two parts.

Brian Glaze’s Learn To Fly is the new piece of art chosen by the Boone Public Art Committee to replace Kevin Eichner’s works Meus Amor and Ferreus Intumus at the Boone Town Hall parking lot sculpture site. Glaze’s work will be installed on Thursday, July 31, and will remain on display for one year. The last day to view Eichner’s works is Friday, July 25. Photos submitted “We had a lot of excellent entries this year but [the Public Art Committee] felt that Brian Glaze’s piece was different than the previous work. They wanted to pull away from the free-form style of Kevin Eichner’s piece,” said Mary Ella Baker, assistant director of the Downtown Boone Development Association and director of the Downtown Boone Development Association Public Art Program. “The Public Art Committee felt that Glaze’s piece will fit well in the space; they liked the color and that it is not plant-like.”

Eichner is taking down his pieces on Friday, July 25, and Glaze will arrive to install his piece on Thursday, July 31. Glaze’s piece will be ready for display on Friday, August 1, just in time for the Downtown Boone Development Association’s Art Crawl.

“The Public Art Committee felt like this will be a great new piece for downtown, creating a gateway feel to that centrally located parking lot,” added Baker.
On Friday, August 1, at 5:30 p.m. on the Jones House lawn in downtown Boone, the Downtown Boone Development Association in conjunction with the Watauga County Arts Council will host an opening ceremony for Glaze’s piece, as well as for the new Jones House Community Center fence and the Downtown Boone Gateway. Admission is free.

Glaze is a Hendersonville-based artist who works as an instructor/department head for the Blue Ridge Community College Department of Art. Holding a bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture from Kent State University and a master of fine arts degree in sculpture from Bowling Green State University, Glaze has been honored as a visiting artist, guest lecturer and visiting faculty at ASU, Brevard College, Western Carolina University, Cleveland State University and Kent State University. Glaze has hosted solo exhibitions across North Carolina and Ohio, as well as participated in juried/invitational exhibitions in Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kansas, Ohio and New Mexico.

For more information, call the Downtown Boone Development Association at 828-262-4532 or click to www.briannglaze.com.