Concordia, 2012

Want to see Lexington’s newest piece of public art? Drive down Main Street to the Downtown Arts Center — and look up.

Concordia (2012), commissioned for the roof of the Downtown Art Center in Lexington, KY, demonstrates my approach to site and community. The sculpture rests against two formerly distinct buildings and stylistically different facades. Just as the Art Center augments, strengthens and shoulders the larger community, my sculpture references the buttress that shores up, reinforces and sustains a larger structure. The rooftop site presented unique challenges, which required extensive consultation with architects, engineers and riggers as well as skillful negotiations with client, city agencies, and community stakeholders.

Sited on the roof of the old Lexington Laundry Co., an early 20th-century art deco building, is a stack of 15 giant steel cylinders. They lean against a taller wall next door, a Neo-Classical 19th-century building that forms the center of the arts complex. The entire work weighing in at 14,000 pounds.