Creating art for station
New York sculptor awarded Tamarac fire station project
Sculptor Albert Paley’s work will decorate Tamarac’s new Fire Station 78.
The City Commission recently approved the Public Art Committee’s decision to commission a piece by Paley, whose works are part of the collections at major museums around the world.
The project will cost $100,000 and be paid for through the city’s developerfunded public art program.
Paley was selected from among the 156 people who responded to the city’s call for artists.
“The Public Art Committee first reduced it to 46,” said Beth Ravitz, one of the city’s public art consultants. “It was then narrowed down to five artists who were invited to make presentations.”
Paley will be in charge of the design, fabrication and installation of the stainless steel piece that will weigh about 4,200 pounds. The sculpture will be illuminated at night and attached to the new fire station, which will be built by West Construction for $3.8 million. Installation will happen in August 2016.
The New York artist initially worked as a goldsmith before becoming a metal sculptor. His works can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Among his famous works are one at the Naples Museum of Art, a 130-foot-long archway named “Animals Always” for the St. Louis Zoo in Missouri and a gate for the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.
“I personally love it,” said City Commissioner Debra Placko. “I think it will start a conversation; people are definitely going to notice it. That is the whole idea of art.”
Mayor Harry Dressler said, “It is not just art from a premier artist. What I like most about this project is that the city is fusing public art and architecture.”
West Construction will demolish the current 6,000-square-foot facility and replace it with the new 9,300-square-foot station. The fire department will operate out of a modular fire station near the Mainlands 5 clubhouse while the city builds the new facility.
“It is not just art from a premier artist. What I like most about this project is that the city is fusing public art and architecture.”
— Mayor Harry Dressler