Sculptures Are Popping Up Like Flowers!

"Sculpture in the Park" opened in Tibbits Park last summer thanks to WalMart, a WPBF Major Sponsor, and the partnership of the White Plains Beautification Foundation, the Sculptors Guild, the Schonberger Foundation, the City and community and corporate contributors. This show, which is open 24/7 throughout the year and is the second ongoing sculpture exhibit in White Plains, includes over a dozen sculptures created by world-renowned sculp- tors, making the park on Main Street and North Broadway yet another cul- tural destination within our beautiful city.

“Rouget”   -   Welded Aluminum ( painted with red aliphatic polyurethane ) 15’ x 15 ½’

"Sculpture on the Plaza," which opened in September 2004 in front of the White Plains Library, just acquired a new sculpture, “Rouget,” by Robert Perless. The new piece is sited at the back of the Public Safety Building near the ramp to the library parking structure. It has a black base and bright red wind vanes and is one of a series of working models. “Redshift,” for which “Rouget” was created as a working model, is located in Grace Church Square in Port Chester.

Mr. Perless has a second working model, “Quick- silver,” now on exhibit in lower Tibbits Park. This sculpture is the working model for Perless' “Orion's Belt,” which is sited at the shorefront in Corpus Christi, Texas. The sculpture evokes the constella- tion Orion, which is frequently used in celestial nav- igation, to celebrate Corpus Christi's identity as a seafaring and aviation community.

"My sculpture is really about what you don't see," says Perless. "I'm trying to point the way to the invisible - to the energy latent in the world itself. It is right there, waiting to be discovered, yet we pass right by it in our busy lives."

Both “Rouget” and “Quicksilver” are wonder- ful additions to our city’s cultural environment. How exciting for White Plains to have acquired sculptural “sisters" to those in Port Chester and Corpus Christi!

Our community is very fortunate to be involved with the talented artists who are affiliated with the Sculptors Guild. Many of them have created large-scale, public artworks for cities throughout the world. The White Plains Sculpture Committee has developed an educational program with the White Plains School District where students are introduced to the program in their class- rooms and then visit the sculpture gardens to gain firsthand knowledge.

If you are interested in training to become a sculpture-exhibit docent or learning about the opportunities to become involved in this exciting program, please contact Arne Abramowitz, Commissioner of WP Recreation and Parks at 422-1336.