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Government » DEPARTMENTS » Library Services » Cultural Arts

Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park

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Sculpture Exhibition 2021 Banner

The Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park is an integral feature of the Newport Beach Civic Center. Civic Center Park, which turned nearly half a million square feet of undeveloped land into a new public park, was designed by renowned landscape architectural firm Peter Walker and Partners (PWP).  The City Arts Commission determined that a rotating exhibition, in which pieces are loaned for a 2-year period, was an optimal approach to bring sculpture to the City in a cost-efficient manner. In 2013, the Newport Beach City Council authorized the City Arts Commission to implement an inaugural rotational sculpture exhibit in Civic Center Park.

Admission is free and the exhibition continues to be enjoyed by residents and guests of all ages and sensibilities. The exhibition has become a “museum without walls” that offers the temporary display of public art in a unique, naturalistic setting. Moreover, the City is able to exhibit a well-balanced representation of public art, with artistic merit, durability, practicality, and site responsiveness as criteria in the selection of work. The rotational nature of the exhibit ensures that residents and guests are exposed to a variety of work. 

Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park - Phase VI

On February 9, 2021, the Newport Beach City Council approved ten new pieces for Phase VI of the Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park, along with three alternates. Installation, managed by Arts Orange County, was completed in June 2021. Phase VI sculptures will be on loan through June 2023.

 PH VI COLLAGE

The Phase VI sculptures are as follows (left to right, down):

  • The Migration of My Dreams by Marisabel Bazan, West Hollywood, CA
  • Talking Heads by Oleg Lobykin, East Palo Alto, CA
  • Woodpeckers by Michael McLaughlin, Torrington, CT
  • Leaf Spiral by Ken McCall, Boise, ID
  • Suncrest by Eino Romppanen, Pahrump, NV
  • Birdman by Steven L. Rieman, Yucca Valley, CA
  • Scorpion by Colin Selig, Walnut Creek, CA
  • Finish Line by Ron Whitacre, Laguna Beach, CA
  • (x)ofmanychildren by Roberto Visani
  • Celestial Carousel by Adrian Susnea Litman, Santa Rosa, CA
  • Lobykin, Oleg - Talking Heads - HQ - 1
    Talking Heads by Oleg Lobykin

    You might see your own reflection splash across the fluid forms of Oleg Lobykin’s grand, steel creation; it seems to obey its own gravity, bringing a touch of the otherworldly to our park.

  • Bazan, Marisabel - The Migration of My Dreams - 1
    The Migration of My Dreams by Marisabel Bazan

    To walk among these splendid giant butterflies feels like the fulfillment of a dream – Marisabel Bazan has created art that invites you to be a part of the tableau, and to remember the joy nature’s colors can bring us.

  • Selig, Colin - Scorpion - HQ - 1
    Scorpion by Colin Selig

    With just a few repurposed propane tanks, simplified forms, and a strong, primary color, Colin Selig gives a playful transformation to a stinging arachnid, reintroducing it to us so we have the chance to see it in a more innocent way.

  • Visani, Roberto - (x)ofmanychildren - HQ - 3
    (x)ofmanychildren by Roberto Visani

    Although austere and abstract, the two figures in Roberto Visani’s (x)ofmanychildren nevertheless suggest a powerful emotion; and although they stand back-to-back, the viewer can feel an aching distance between them. What made them look away from one another?

  • Rieman, Steven L. - Birdman - HQ - 3
    Birdman by Steven L. Rieman

    Artist Steven L. Rieman provides our park with a new piece of kinetic inspiration, a tower of eclectic form and texture topped by a pair of wings that go whirling in the wind.

  • Whitacre, Ron - Finish Line - HQ - 1
    Finish Line by Ron Whitacre

    Feelings of triumph and exuberance are more than just skin-deep, as we discover in Ron Whitacre’s remarkable steel figure that captures both the effort and the celebration of an athlete at their moment of victory.

  • Mclaughlin, Michael - Woodpeckers - HQ - 1
    Woodpeckers by Michael McLaughlin

    Although real woodpeckers may be seen locally, Michael Mclaughlin’s delightful depiction of a mother and her nesting chicks, created by a combination of bronze and stone, offers an eye-level view of them.

  • Romppanen, Eino - Suncrest - HQ - 6
    Suncrest by Eino Romppanen

    Carved white marble is the canvas and the daylight itself is the paint – the late artist’s Suncrest invites us to rejoice in the changing colors and shadows of the day as they are reflected and channeled by the rays carved across both sides.

  • Susnea Litman, Adrian - Celestial Carousel - 1a
    Celestial Carousel by Adrian Susnea Litman

    Adrian Susnea Litman’s work evokes the fanciful shapes we used to imagine for faraway bodies in space. When they move on the arms of this kinetic work, they become more than stars in the heavens; they’re our dreams of what could be out there.

  • McCall, Ken - Leaf Spiral - HQ - 1
    Leaf Spiral by Ken McCall

    The swirling, curving path of a falling leaf is evoked with grace by artist Ken McCall, giving us a taste of the autumn that we can enjoy in every season.

Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park - Phase V

The Newport Beach City Arts Commission is pleased to announce the installation of ten new sculptures in  Phase V of the Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park. The ten new sculptures were selected from submissions received by a national call for entries based on their artistic merit, durability, practicality and site appropriateness. Arts Orange County provided professional services for the coordination of the artist selection and installation of the sculptures. They are scheduled to be on display in Civic Center Park for two years. 

INSTALLED JULY 2020

 

Sculptures Phase V

 

The Phase V sculptures are as follows (left to right, down):

  • Cosmo by Roger Heitzman, Scotts Valley, CA
  • Fractured Peace by Nancy Mooslin, Los Angeles, CA
  • I’m Listening by Monica Wyatt, Studio City, CA
  • The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Patricia Vader, Martinez, CA
  • Seated Diana by Curt Brill, Tucson, AZ
  • Primemover by Grant Irish, Oakland, CA
  • Window to the Sea by Andra Broekelschen, Corona del Mar, CA
  • Marble Shooter by Ron Whitacre, Laguna Beach, CA
  • Dude Ascending by Joe Forest Sackett, Albuquerque, NM
  • Individuality n.1 by ARTECLETTICA Dominic Panziera & Daniela Garofalo, Truckee, CA, Metal work by Anton Standteine

  • Unbearable Lightness of Being by Patricia Vader
    The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Patricia Vader

    Bicycle wheels, in the imaginative hands of repeat Newport Beach Civic Center contributor Patricia Vader, can both take on a delicate, lace-like form, and strike a dramatic impression in red.

  • Dude Ascending by Joe Forest Sackett
    Dude Ascending by Joe Forest Sackett

    This sculpture marries a joyous spectrum of sky blues with a cheeky play on the name of Duchamp's legendary "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2".

  • Primemover by Grant Irish
    Primemover by Grant Irish

    The flow of data in our modern world is captured in this powerful steel icon from sculptor Grant Irish. The jagged angles seem to carry a message; but we can only wonder what information it contains.

  • Marble Shooter by Ron Whitacre
    Marble Shooter by Ron Whitacre

    The marble in Ron Whitacre’s great stainless steel hand is made of shotput material and painted to resemble a satellite view of Earth, suggesting a game of mighty stakes for a possibly - Almighty player.

  • WindowTo the Sea by Andra Broekelschen
    Window to the Sea by Andra Broekelschen

    Local artist Andra Broekelschen has crafted an inviting frame of shells and local sea glass, shaping the small things of nature into a form through which we can gaze on the vast waters of the ocean.

  • Seated Diana by Curt Brill
    Seated Diana by Curt Brill

    A suggestion of a massive seated female figure in bronze contains a beguiling array of possible emotions – do we see weariness, peace, optimism, resistance?

  • Fractured Peace by Nancy Mooslin
    Fractured Peace by Nancy Mooslin

    The size and colors of Nancy Mooslin’s inviting wooden arches were inspired by the rhythms and pitches of music, a way of “seeing” a melody in three dimensions.

  • Individuality 1 by Arteclettica
    Individuality n. 1 by ARTELETICCA, Dominic Panziera & Daniela Garofalo

    Boisterous and whimsical, this celebration of being your own strange self is confident enough in its own skin to be at home among the sands of Burning Man or the coastal splendor of our own Civic Center Park. Metal work by Anton Standteine

  • I
    I'm Listening by Monica Wyatt

    Abstract figures in bronze suggest parents bending towards their offspring – but who is trying to listen to whom?

  • Cosmo by Roger Heitzman
    Cosmo by Roger Heitzman

    Kinetic forms that recall classical depictions of the planetary orbits are held aloft in their whirling patterns by a tower of what artist Roger Heitzman calls “undulating seaweed”, all in stainless steel.

Map Phase V & VI FINAL

Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park - Phase III

The exhibition period for one piece from Phase III was extended, and was on display until June 2021.

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Burnt Matchstick

Artist: Karl Unnasch

Physically inspired by radio tower design, this 40-foot sculpture, with its soft-glowing beacon and slow flicker, captures a fleeting moment in time: the split-second after a burning wooden matchstick has been extinguished by a gust of air. Varying combinations of amber, black, blue and white domestic opalescent glass aggregate in a multi-planar fashion in the construction of this larger-than-life, seemingly innocuous object.

View Phase III in the Sculpture Photo Gallery.

HISTORY OF THE SCULPTURE IN THE CIVIC CENTER PARK EXHIBITION

Newport Beach Civic Center Park - 100 Civic Center Drive, Newport Beach

In August 2013, the Newport Beach City Council authorized the City Arts Commission and City staff to implement a temporary sculpture exhibit in Civic Center Park. The City Council approved the installation of ten sculptures in Phase I of the project and additional ten sculptures in Phase II. The sculptures installed in year one were on display for two years and were removed and returned to the artists in 2016. Those installed in year two, or Phase 2, will be removed in September 2017. The ten sculptures selected for installation in September 2015 are shown in this Phase 2 Presentation.

 A grand opening celebration on September 12, 2015 marked the installation of nine new sculptures in Phase II of the Sculpture in the Civic Center Park Exhibition with the tenth sculpture, "Sunflower," to be installed in January 2016. The community was invited to view the sculptures, meet the artists and enjoy music and refreshments at the Civic Center.  Docent led tours of the Sculpture in Civic Center Park Exhibition were conducted by members of the Newport Beach Art Foundation.

MOBILE APP SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR OF THE PARK

For a self-guided walking tour of the Sculpture in the Civic Center Park Exhibition, download the "MyNB" app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.  Search for "MyNB."  If you already have the "MyNB" app on your mobile device, update it to include the latest additions to the Sculpture Exhibition.

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