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Monday, 16 January 2006 | Elif Sungur
Kent Ullberg Retrospective Sculpture Exhibition
A traveling retrospective exhibit of 48 pieces by Kent Ullberg, widely recognized as one of the world's leading wildlife sculptors, will be on display at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado until March 12, 2006, the last stop of an 18-month, nationwide tour. The Museum is located at 809 Fifteenth Street in Golden.
A traveling retrospective exhibit of 48 pieces by Kent Ullberg, widely recognized as one of the world's leading wildlife sculptors, will be on display at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado until March 12, 2006, the last stop of an 18-month, nationwide tour. The Museum is located at 809 Fifteenth Street in Golden. David Wagner, Ph.D., is the exhibit's curator and tour director. Ullberg maintains studios in Loveland, Colorado and Corpus Christi, Texas.
Exhibition sculptures were selected from the more than 50 monuments and 250 smaller castings Ullberg has produced in his career and represent creatures from land, sea and air. Models give insight into Ullberg's sense of design and mechanics. Others are smaller sculptures of unique and delicate beauty. Pieces in the exhibition span from 1969's "Owl" to 2004's "Archipenkos Heron," and includes "Wind in the Sails," a 1999 stainless steel sculpture that stands in Stockholm, Sweden.
The exhibit premiered at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, and was mounted in response to a monumental public art commission created by Ullberg for the new First National Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The bank installation, of epic scale, involves 58 bronze and stainless steel geese with eight-foot wingspans lifting off from a downtown fountain and entering the urban landscape. The geese are attached to traffic light standards and buildings throughout downtown Omaha, ultimately entering the First National Center's atrium. A heroic composition of a bronze wagon train created by Ed Fraughton and Blair Buswell spans a downtown park, driving a charging herd of Ullberg's larger-than-life bison on a journey throughout the downtown area.
The exhibition and tour has been generously underwritten by First National Bank, Omaha, Nebraska.
Curator/Tour Director David J. Wagner, Ph.D., on Ullberg's work:
"No matter where Kent Ullberg's work is judged, it succeeds because of the breadth, depth and sophistication of his knowledge and talent. In the world of New York's National Academy of Design or the National Sculpture Society, Ullberg's art stands out because he deeply understands nature, and his treatment of it goes beyond urbane aesthetics. In the world of the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Society of Animal Artists, or The Wildlife Experience, Ullberg's work rises above the rest because he applies his broad knowledge of art history to create his sculptures. He aspires to be true to art and to nature."
About Kent Ullberg
A native of Sweden, Kent Ullberg is recognized as one of the world's foremost wildlife sculptors. While he has done hundreds of works on a small scale, he is perhaps best known for the monumental works he has executed for museums and municipalities from Omaha, Nebraska to Cape Town, South Africa. His Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Omaha, Nebraska installations are the largest wildlife bronze compositions ever done, spanning several city blocks. Regardless of scale, he imbues all of his subjects with unparalleled vitality.
Ullberg is a member of a number of important art organizations that have honored him with prestigious awards. These include, in New York City, Allied Artists of America, the National Academy, the National Arts Club, the National Sculpture Society and the Society of Animal Artists. In 1990, his peers elected him a full academician to the National Academy, he first wildlife artist since John James Audubon to receive one of the greatest tributes in American art. His memberships and awards outside New York include the American Society of Marine Artists, Ambler, Pennsylvania; and the National Academy of Western Art, Oklahoma City, which awarded him the Prix de West Award in 1998, the foremost award in western art. He is a major supporter of many wildlife conservation efforts.
Ullberg's work can be found in major museums and corporate headquarters around the globe, including the National Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, Sweden; the National Gallery in Botswana, Africa; National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C.; Exhibition Hall, Beijing, China; the Guildhall in London, and many more. His pieces can also be found in the private collections of world leaders and celebrities, including H.R.H. Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Jack Nicholson and Robert Wagner.
About Foothills Art Center
The mission of Foothills Art Center is to engage and inspire diverse audiences through the exhibition and interpretation of local, regional, and national visual arts. Foothills Art Center is a 35-year-old non-profit arts resource for Golden and the Denver Metro area as well as for the state, the Southwest, and - through competitive exhibitions and invitational opportunities - for artists across the nation.
Despite its proximity to the Golden business strip and to the busy Colorado School of Mines campus, Foothills environs are beautifully landscaped and the quiet setting is marked by mature shade trees, friendly nooks for an outdoor lunch, and an overall sense of serenity. The Center is housed in two National Historic Register buildings. Foothills I, the main building, is known for its classic Victorian architecture, its stained glass windows and a bell tower, visible amid pines and aspens. In 1968, an enterprising group of artists and business persons orchestrated the purchase of the First Presbyterian Church, built in 1872. Over the ensuing years the church was remodeled and joined to the parsonage, so the present Foothills comprises six self-contained gallery rooms under one roof. The Center added a second floor studio, and also purchased the adjacent mansion, called Foothills II, where small invitational shows are held and where the Gallery Shops operate year around.
Foothills is noted for its architecture, but even more for its track record in presenting a balanced schedule of exhibitions, programs and art classes. The Center mounts annually the Colorado Clay exhibition and the famed Rocky Mountain National Watermedia exhibition. Biennially, Foothills presents the North American Sculpture Exhibition and Colorado Art Open. The status of these exhibitions is suggested by the stature of recent jurors such as Janet Fish, Sondra Freckelton (painting), Paul Soldner, Don Reitz (clay), Donald Lipski, Alison Saar, Jesus Bautista Moroles, Manuel Neri, and Peter Shelton (sculpture). Drawing equally wide attention, attendance and community participation are the "theme" shows which have greatly increased Foothills audiences. Yearly, exhibitions with big "nature themes" such as The Shining Mountains, Canyon Walls, and Rivers - the Song of Life are interspersed with shows emphasizing ethnic, regional, or stylistic themes (Two shows based on Taos arts have drawn record crowds and enjoyed public and critical acclaim.) All of Foothills exhibitions seek to mingle Colorado artists with their regional or national peers, in exhibitions which meld styles of art from the traditional to the innovative and experimental.
Admission is free. Hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information, including directions, visit http://www.foothillsartcenter.org,
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