Culturally
An App for Art
On the mall leading to Lutgert Hall on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University, five Corten and stainless steel spires rise majestically from a bed of black river rock in ascending heights from 7 to 15 feet. Each ends in an LED beacon that sends shafts of light throughout the mall at night, just as FGCU graduates will carry the illumination they receive at the university into the world. But Transition’s rich metaphorical content and uplifting message are often lost on students, faculty and campus visitors rushing by on their way to classes, meetings and other events. That’s about to change. Although it opened its doors only 17 years ago, FGCU has already amassed a collection of public artwork that consists of more than 80 sculptures, murals, mosaics, glasswork, paintings, prints and fine-art photographs, together with 392 signed limited edition works on paper. Among the artists represented in the collection are monumental metal sculptors Albert Paley and Robert Roesch, fine-art photographers Clyde Butcher and Karen Glaser, Salvador Dali, James Rosenquist and local names such as Lucas Century, Leo Johnson and Leoma Lovegrove.
“Many colleges pride themselves on their collections,” notes Mark Flickinger, who has chaired a number of the committees tasked with locating new works. The prestige of the art and artists in its collection contributes to a school’s reputation, helping it attract top- notch faculty, staff and students, as well as support from culturally minded benefactors and alumni.
The University of South Florida, for example, has received attention from a number of national art publications. In fact, in 2008 internationally distributed
Public Art Review magazine included USF on its short list of the top 10 collegiate public art programs in the nation.
Like USF, FGCU has acquired artwork through a combination of gifts and commissions made possible by allocations from Florida’s Art in State Buildings Program, which legislatively mandates that 0.5 percent of the cost of new state buildings be used for the acquisition of artwork to be placed in or outside the facility. By filling
open spaces between buildings with plazas, gardens and courtyards that serve as informal gathering spots and academic neighborhoods, artwork enhances the aesthetics of FGCU’s campus and enriches the cultural lives of the school’s students, faculty and staff.
“But 98 percent of the students who take my sculpture class are completely unaware of the Art in State Buildings Program,” notes FGCU associate professor Mary Sullivan Voytek, whose Dream to
Connect wall sculpture adorns the Fine Arts Building. To increase awareness, Voytek requires each student to select one of the school’s public art pieces and tell her and the class what the artist intended, how it relates to the environment in which it is located and why it engages viewers. “The only clue I give them is the work’s title,” she says.
Something magical takes place during this process. “They suddenly develop an appreciation for not only that piece, but also the rest of the works in the collection,” Voytek reports.
For that very reason efforts are now under way to upload information about each of the university’s artworks onto New York City–based cultureNOW, one of the largest and most comprehensive online public art registries in the country. More than 75 public art collections across America, including colleges such as Yale,
MIT and the University of Florida, are collaborating with cultureNOW to create a national “museum without walls” that is accessible by not only PC and tablet, but also Android and smart phones compliments of an inexpensive ($1.99) GPS-based app.
“This digital technology enables students, parents, alumni and friends to integrate the artwork into their daily lives and use the collections to stimulate cultural tourism,” says cultureNOW founder and president Abby Suckle.
Involving the surrounding community in campus life is a core value and paramount concern at FGCU. “The local community is part of every conversation,” notes assistant art professor Andy Owen. “The subject is raised at every meeting.”
That’s something that has really impressed John Loscuito, who arrived in January to direct the art gallery at FGCU’s Bower School of Music and the Arts. “We consider the community at large in every exhibition and event we plan,” Loscuito says.
While FGCU is admittedly still trying to work out the mechanics of its community outreach initiatives, employing cultureNOW’s digital platform to entice, engage and impress visitors is tailor-made for the school’s tech- savvy art students and faculty. By year’s end, expect to find FGCU’s entire collection online, along with supporting photographs, podcasts and even student-filmed music videos. You can track the school’s progress by visiting culturenow.org and typing Florida Gulf Coast University in the search bar. Tom Hall is a public art advocate and freelance journalist who covers arts and entertainment events from Marco Island to Matlacha. Inspired by his love of local history, Tom also leads public art and historic walking tours of downtown Fort Myers and Matlacha Island for True Tours.
BY FILLING OPEN SPACES BETWEEN BUILDINGS WITH PLAZAS, GARDENS AND COURTYARDS THAT SERVE AS INFORMAL GATHERING SPOTS AND ACADEMIC NEIGHBORHOODS, ARTWORK ENHANCES THE AESTHETICS OF FGCU’S CAMPUS AND ENRICHES THE CULTURAL LIVES OF THE SCHOOL’S STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF.