New Sculpture Park emerging in Norfolk
The 32-foot-tall steel structure sprouting at Yarmouth Street and West Brambleton Avenue is a tree. If you want it to be. Or it can be a boat.
It will soon be the whimsical centerpiece of Sculpture Park, a grassy corner that is being outfitted with the towering artwork, signage, lighting, landscaping and a walking path that will signal the Chrysler Museum of Art is around the corner.
Erik Neil, Chrysler’s director, said that shortly after he came to the museum in 2014 he realized “we have thousands of people driving up and down Brambleton every day and they might not know the museum is150 feet away.”
The intersection also happens to be the southwest corner of the city’s art hub, the Neon District.
The grassy spot is owned by the city and abuts the Brambleton Medical Center’s parking lot.
Chrysler’s Board of Trustees liked the idea of advertising the museum and the Neon District. The trustees did the fundraising and selected Tommy Fox, a 29-year-old emerging artist from Richmond, for the project.
Fox said hea sked to design something big and striking, yet simple and obviously element-proof.
He worked closely with the committee to create a spiraling piece that he said can be described as a boat with sails or a tree with leaves in an array of colors called “splox,” a fun term some friends dreamed up. The 15 splox will be painted in durable automotive paint and range in size from 3 to 7 feet. Blackish-purple mondo grass will grow at the sculpture’s trunk and complement its dark steel.
The blue in the sculpture will be similar to the blue of the Chrysler’s signage and a walkway surrounding the sculpture will also match the pattern of the museum’s walkways, Fox said.
The sculpture is called “JumboWumbo Technico,” because the piece is large, comical and joyful, Fox said.
He said he can see it being a magnet for children. Even though diversity wasn’t on his mind during the design, he now sees the sculpture’s rainbow of colors as a nod to inclusivity and that ideal should have a home in every neighborhood.
Fox said he was warned that people might complain it isn’t traditional enough for the Ghent community it borders, but “because it’s not a dead white man on a horse, I think that it will mean a lot more to more people,” he said. “I think there is room for play.… Nonsense and fun is fine and it’s more interesting in a world where art isn’t trying to tell you what you’re supposed to feel or think or be.
“My hope would be that people will spend time with it and realize that maybe it does fit in.”
Colonna’s Shipyard in Norfolk donated time, material and labor for the trunk and limbs.
“An important business in our community saw this as an opportunity to do something, to do a good deed,” Fox said. “That’s a real big plus.”
Neil took the designs to the Ghent Neighborhood League, members of the Neon District, the Downtown Norfolk Civic League for thoughts and input, and the necessary review boards and commissions with the city. Norfolk City Council approved it in August.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 11a.m. Oct. 31and Fox, who is also a poet, has written a piece in the spirit of the sculpture that he will recite. The Chrysler will also recognize the project’s donors and partners during the event.
The museum will add more trees to the lot, as well as signage and lighting.
Jeremy McGee, president of the Ghent Neighborhood League, said the museum came to the group throughout the design process for feedback and updates. He thinks it’s an attractive piece of artwork, but knows that public art will always have its supporters and detractors. McGee also sits on Norfolk’s Architectural Review Board.
“Love it or hate it, I believe the sculpture will be effective in catching people’s eye.”