The Infinity Cloud

 

Part Two Of A Two Part Photo Essay Regarding Public Art In Wichita, Kansas

 Yesterday was sculpture day as far as posting pics of public art seen in Wichita Kansas goes. Today is more of a two dimensional day, as I'll be posting pics of murals and such found in and around Wichita.

       Okay this isn't two dimensional, but it is what I believe to be an "artspace" in downtown Wichita

Well, that's about it. Oh, I did see more 2D stuff, but for the most part it was just dull or uninteresting bad graffiti.

Part One Of A Two Part Photo Essay Regarding Public Art In Wichita, Kansas

   Wichita, Kansas has a lot of public art, and the majority of it is good. Extremely, Unexpectedly good, at least to me. 

   Before visiting Wichita my knowledge of the place was limited to various docudramas about the psychopath Dennis Rader, that it was the birthplace of Pizza Hut, Lear jets were once manufactured there, and that a talented basketball player who attended the same high school I did played collegiately at Wichita State.

   I had no idea about the art. 

   However, within minutes of arriving in Wichita I became enlightened as to the quantity and quality of the public art on display as my first stop was a business located in the heart of downtown Wichita, and very close to that business was a statue of a horse that I immediately recognized as the work of the late sculptor John Kearney (well, truth be told my actual first thought was "huh, that looks like something John Kearney might do, wonder if a local sculptor's wearing his influence on his sleeve").

   My familiarity with John Kearney's work is due to all the pieces he created that can be seen in Chicago - notably a large moose on Michigan Ave and a grouping of deer in a plaza near the Aon Center. I had been living my whole life thinking that Chicago was the only place his work was on display until I got to Wichita.

   These are the two I saw in the downtown area:

   John Kearney had a good eye and was a wizard of welding.

   Walking around downtown Wichita is pretty much like walking through a sculpture garden. Earlier I posted pics of many of Georgia Gerber's statues that dot both sides of East Douglas ave, but those are the tip of Wichita's public sculpture iceberg. 

   Several other sculptors have had pieces acquired and put on display by either the city of Wichita or by individuals, groups, or businesses interested in making Wichita a visually interesting place to visit. 

   Here are a few more for your viewing pleasure.

                                              Tripodal by James Rosati, 1971 - 1972

                                          Peerless Princess of the Plains by Frank Jensen

                                              Hardship and Dreams by Dorothy L. Koelling 

                                              Sundial on watch gear stand by Jack Zavatsky

                Interrupted Flight by Harry Bertoia (in memory of former Mayor A. Price Woodard)

                       1/6th scale replica of the Keeper of the Plains sculpture by Blackbear Bosin

   The above 1/6th scale replica of Blackbear Bosin's 44 foot tall Keeper of the Plains sculpture (which will be shown in a later post) is in front of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, hence it is decorated with small paintings of Wichita specific postcards - there are a number of these smaller "Keepers" throughout Wichita.

   Feather Towers by Vicki Scuri on both sides of the W. Douglas Ave bridge across the Arkansas River

Rotary centennial plaza in Wichita features a kinetic sculpture called the Rotary Time Tower 

                                                              The Rotary Time Tower 

                         "Editorial Without Words" statue in front of the Wichita Midian Shrine

                                               Tyrannosaurus Rex by Phillip M. Brinkley

   The four pictures below are of sculptures known collectively as Rails and Wheels. They were created by the design team/artists/sculptors Terry Corbett, Ritchie Bergen, Larry Goodwin & Steve Murillo with the assistance of PEC (Professional Engineering Consultants) Field Services of Wichita, along with SPT (Spangenberg, Phillips, Tice) Architecture of Wichita.

   I'll wrap this post up with a terrific mosaic featured above the First United Methodist Church on Broadway. The building itself is a beautiful example of mid-century modern architecture but the mosaic, titled "Be Still And Know That I Am God", is a jewel measuring 40 feet by 70 feet and composed of 70,000 individual ceramic tiles.

              

   

Murals Seen On The 1st & 2nd Street Underpasses In Wichita

   Painted on the walls of both the 1st and 2nd street underpasses for Interstate 135 (which runs north and south through the heart of Wichita) are four interesting and visually stimulating murals.

   What makes them interesting (at least to me) is not the subject matter, but rather where they are painted, and why that location affects how they are viewed and what is seen.

   If one is driving down either 1st or 2nd street and passes the murals going the posted speed limit, the artwork can only be seen peripherally, and then only as indistinct geometric patterns of various shades of blue or yellow. 

                                                       Eastbound drivers view of the underpass

   To be able to truly appreciate the subject matter, which is what makes the murals visually stimulating, this art pretty much has to be viewed from the perspective of a pedestrian. 

Blue (top) and yellow (bottom) 1st street underpass murals

                     Yellow (top) and blue (bottom) 2nd street underpass murals 

Helpful Hint For Those That Like To Walk

    If you're like me and enjoy walking, here's a piece of sound advice. Do not get Plantar fasciitis. 

    Not only is Plantar fasciitis devilish to spell (due to the rare double i), it is also painful for those of us who like to walk.

   This morning I was told by the Podiatrist I visited to see about the pain that suddenly popped up in my left heel (after a few brief questions along with a cursory examination of said heel), that I had a mild case of Plantar fasciitis.

   Yikes.

   Plantar fasciitis, for those not in the know, is a condition usually caused by prolonged periods of standing (which I do a lot of), obesity (guilty), and exercise such as extended walking or running on hard surfaces (yes to the extended walking on hard surfaces).

   It is also most common in people between the ages of 40 to 60 (bingo).

   The Doc told me that the best treatment plan for my particular case was for me to procure a pair of orthopedic shoes with a significant amount of arch support and a "comfortable cradle for the heel", and to adopt a daily stretching routine that includes at least 5 minutes of stretching the feet and 5 minutes of stretching the calves.

   Icing the left foot was also recommended and why wouldn't it be.

   He also suggested (strongly) that it would help my cause greatly if I lost a substantial amount of weight, say 75 to 100 lbs. 

   Double yikes.

   Typically, eight weeks to a year is what can be expected as the minimum and maximum amount of time for recovery from Plantar fasciitis, which is a helluva broad range.

   I was able to get the orthopedic shoes this afternoon and they made an instant difference in the level of pain I was experiencing. Exercise bands are on order, and I also bought one of those little foot soaker/massaging tub dealios in order to ice my left foot - which I did just a few hours ago and that also resulted in a significant amount of relief.

   I'll post progress updates when progress is made.

   

The Blue Steel Sculptures Of Wichita

   Some people go to Wichita to get away from Opera, but not me. I went on a short business trip and in the time allotted to me for pleasure, indulged in my passion for public art.

   I found quite a bit, some good, some bad, some perplexing. 

   The art I considered perplexing consisted of steel girders that had been welded into random configurations, painted blue, and then placed along the west side of the Arkansas riverfront north of West Douglas ave.

   No attribution could be found as to the creator of these sculptures, and while they look like the work of abstract expressionist/constructivist sculptor Mark Di Suvero, they are painted blue, a far cry from the international orange or black or rust that Di Suvero prefers for his creations.

   Just going to have to regard them as mediocre derivatives I guess.

Grumbling About Stumbling Over A Previously Unencountered Word

    If there's one thing I find especially bothersome its having my enjoyment of a good read interrupted by the author's use of a word I have never seen before.

   This morning, as I was once again enjoying one of John Brooks tales of the misadventures of Wall Street, this one being a recounting of an enormous commodities fraud perpetrated in 1963 that cost a number of American and International banking and trading corporations 180 million dollars (which would be over 1.8 billion dollars in 2024 dollars).

   Yeah, that pales when compared to the losses caused by Enron, WorldCom, and of course Madoff, but bear in mind this was at a time when Wall Street was extremely conservative and rigorous oversight was the norm. 

   This sordid criminal exercise became known as the Salad Oil scandal, and was pretty much the worst case of  fiscal skullduggery since the McKesson & Robbins scandal of 1938. The efforts made by the New York Stock Exchange to mitigate the damage and offset losses to average investors (and save face) is the basis of Mr. Brooks story, and the word he slipped in that tripped me up was "eleemosynary".

   Eleemosynary. Mr. Brooks must have had one helluva Thesaurus.

   Eleemosynary is an adjective and is defined as "related to or being dependent on charity. Charitable."

   I had to pause my reading just to look that up, though in the context it was being used I kinda suspected the definition was pretty much that.

   Which lead to me spending an inordinate amount of time just pondering the idea that stockbrokers could be altruistic.