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Judges for Playable Art Park Sculptures Choose Winners
It is our great pleasure to announce that the six member distinguished panel of judges for The Playable Art Park Sculpture Competition -- all specialists in art and design -- have selected 12 outstanding winners from more than 120 entries -- some from as far away as France, England and the Philippines.
The Competition stems from a joint venture of The Sandy Springs Conservancy and Art Sandy Springs, which is continuing to develop The Playable Art Park at Abernathy Greenway funded by a grant from Northside Hospital.
L to R, Back row, Jeffry Loy, Fulton County Arts and Culture Public Art Conservator, PAP Steering Comm.; Susan Krause, Judge; Cathleen Hunt, Judge; Dr. Jerry Cullum, Judge; Cynthia Gentry, Judge; and Lauren Bernazza, PAP Steering Comm. Front row, Roxanne Hellosi, PAP Steering Comm.; Cheri Morris, ArtSS President and PAP Steering Comm.; Linda Bain, SSC Exe, Director and PAP Steering Comm. Chair; Michelle Savant, Judge; not pictured Jim Budd, Judge
Judges include Dr. Jerry Cullum, retired senior editor of "Art Papers"; Cynthia Gentry, founder of the Atlanta Taskforce on Play (ATOP); Cathleen Hunt, manager of exhibitions at the Atlanta Botanical Garden; Susan Krause, the Chair of Sculpture for the Savannah College of Art And Design in Atlanta; Michelle Savant, Associate Conservator of Objects for the High Museum of Art; and Jim Budd, the Chair of the School of Industrial Design at Georgia Institute of Technology.
"It was a pleasure to be part of the selection process for this project," said Susan Krause, judge. "The many entries were wide reaching and dynamic. This plan provides for an inviting place where creative thought, imagination and action can take place. The value of community, art and play are important components to our well being on many levels of everyday life. Bringing these elements together provides memory, experience, and a sense of belonging to an area were people can congregate and enjoy together what it is to be human."
The collection of playable sculptures will be an exciting visual element in the Sandy Springs landscape and will encourage children to experience art through play. Due to open in the fall of 2012, the project is a culmination of some two years of work by a Steering Committee formed by the two organizations.
While specific information regarding each sculpture will not be announced until early 2012 after the City of Sandy Springs formally accepts the sculptures as a gift from the participating organizations, the judges have indicated that each winning sculpture has demonstrated exceptional ability to inspire and encourage children's play in the six zones in the Abernathy Greenway.
Cheri Morris, a member of both SSC and ArtSS boards, and President of ArtSS, said "the Playable Art Park Steering Committee is extremely pleased with the high number of submissions, and the originality, artistic quality and scale of the sculptures. The spectacular creations use all manner of materials-bright steel forms, carved wood pieces and huge cast stonework sculptures, all big enough to climb and play on. After much work we are now ready to present 40 semifinalists to the judges, and we couldn't be more thrilled with the blue-ribbon panel who will assemble to select the finalists."
Linda Bain, Executive Director of Sandy Springs Conservancy detailed the Steering Committee's work as they prepared the submissions for the distinguished panel of judges to convene on December 1 and choose sculptures for six designated zones in The Abernathy Greenway. "In November, a nine-child focus group held by research firm, UserInsight, investigated childrens' and parents' reaction to the entries. Also, throughout October and November experts in playground safety, engineering, feasibility and materials conservation, including Sandy Springs Parks and Recreation Director Ronnie Young and Fulton County Arts and Culture Public Art Conservator Jeffry Loy, reviewed the field of entries."
Playable Art Park's focus group hard at work...
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