Art enhances public gardens

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

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For many people, creating beauty out of a back yard is very satisfying. An artistically planned yard can be a restful, rejuvenating space.

Ditto for public places. In recent years, planning a pleasing outdoor environment at a civic center has meant not only good landscaping but the addition of good art.

In Fort Collins, the Lincoln Center's Sculpture Garden is a case in point. The public garden is graced by plantings, curved walkways, imaginative benches and, of course, a fanciful variety of sculpture. The centerpiece of the area is a massive water feature, a sandstone and steel fountain called "el*e*vate" The fountain was the first public art project created by Rick Upham of Wellington and his brother Tim of Fort Collins.

Tim noted that the fountain uses artistic imagery that is appropriate to its site. In the piece, the Lincoln Center is represented by the steel structure. It is shown as elevating the community of Fort Collins (sandstone) through its artistic and cultural programs (water). The sculpture incorporates 17 tons of sandstone and steel.

The brothers' projects now grace several other public places around Colorado. In Grand Junction, a sandstone and steel fountain stands at the entrance to the community's new city hall, and in Greeley, a water sculpture pays tribute to the city's early water pioneers. A colorful wind sculpture in one of Aurora's city parks used the talents of the Upham brothers plus finishing touches by Keller Powder Coating & Fabrication in Wellington.

Visiting with the Upham brothers is something akin to spending time with Click and Clack, the comic radio stars on "Car Talk." There's a lot of good-natured sparring and joking.

One's an artist, the other an artisan. One's the public relations guy, the other prefers to stay in his shop. But together, they've produced some magnificent pieces in metal and stone. Rick is a welder and craftsman, owner of Flash Welding on Vine Drive and an expert on the qualities of different metals. Tim, a professional sculptor who specializes in site-specific work, designs the pieces and presents proposals to potential clients.

"We complement each other so well," Tim commented. "Rick doesn't have the patience for marketing, and I don't have the welding skills or equipment."

Tim noted that one of his design goals for civic projects is to have the sculpture fit well with the environment. That's one reason the brothers like to use sandstone; it's indigenous to Colorado, and it goes with any architectural style.

Generally, to place a large piece of sculpture in a public place, an artist must win a contest. The three finalists in any such contest must invest a lot of time in preparing a presentation for the judges, including building a "mockette" of the final piece plus providing information about materials, budget and the artist's vision for the piece. The Uphams said it often takes as much time to get a presentation together as it does to build the sculpture.

In many cases, civic art projects are funded under a city's "Art in Public Places" program. Fort Collins has subscribed to the program since 1995, so 1 percent of the budget for the city's large capital projects is spent on art.

As with a residential garden, a public place is more interesting if it has a striking, unique feature. A piece of sculpture, Tim noted, "gives each park an individual identity."

The two brothers do smaller decorative pieces in addition to civic-size projects. Rick builds artistic wrought iron fences for residences, while Tim makes sandstone and steel tables used in outdoor decor. The two are also willing to work on sculptures and water features for private homes.