The Knot

 Posted by on March 10, 2016
Mar 102016
 

Santiago de Cuba

El Nudo by Luis Silva

El Nudo (The knot)  by Luis Silva – 2013

In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its first Rene Valdes Cedeño Public Sculpture Symposium, an homage to an artist and teacher who authored works as important as the Cuba’s Abel Santamaria Monument.

Sponsored by the Caguayo Foundation and the Advisory Council for the Development of Public Sculptures and Monuments, the symposium seeks to promote sculpting in marble and metals.

The second Symposium was held in November of 2013, this sculpture is a result of the second Symposium.

 

Nature

 Posted by on April 22, 2015
Apr 222015
 

Nature by Juan QuinterraThis piece, titled Nature, is by Juan Quintanilla.

In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its first Rene Valdes Cedeño Public Sculpture Symposium. Sponsored by the Caguayo Foundation and the Advisory Council for the Development of Public Sculptures and Monuments, the symposium seeks to promote sculpting in marble and metals.  Nature was a result of the Symposium, the pieces that came out of the project were put around Santiago de Cuba.

Juan Quintanilla studied at the School of Visual Arts in Pinar del Rio in 1965.  He went on to get a graduate degree in Sculpture from the National Art School in 1967.  In 1973 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Praque and spent the year of 1989 studying at Pietro Tacca Institute in Carrara, Italy.

When asked about the marble of Cuba he answered (this is a rough translation)

“In our country we have different qualities of marble. I have only worked with the Siboney Grey Isla de la Juventud, but I have also made ​​inroads into the green and black of Pinar del Río, and the cream and pink orchid of Bayamo, both high quality marbles. There are many others, but these are the ones that I most identify with. I think it is also a way to promote Cuban marble. Many people do not know you could do these sculptures in marble and have been  surprised to some to see how a piece can bring out the different qualities.”

Juan Quininilla

Richmond District Police Station

 Posted by on June 19, 2013
Jun 192013
 

461 6th Avenue
Richmond Police Station
Richmond District

Richmond Police Station

The Richmond District Police Station was built in 1927 in a red-brick Romanesque Revival style.

Richmond District Police Department Horse BarnThe Horse Barn

Behind the police station this brick building housed horses with a loft to hold their feed in the back.  Both buildings were renovated in 1990 and the horse building now houses offices as well as a neighborhood community room.

I had come to the Police Station to photograph and write about the glass entry door by Shelly Jurs.

Shelly Jurs - Richmond Police Station Front DoorShelly Jurs trained in architectural glass techniques at the Cummings Studio in San Rafael, California (1973-74) and the Swansea College of Art, South Wales, Great Britain,  in 1975. She did a formal apprenticeship training at the Willets Stained Glass Studio, Philadelphia, PA, 1976-77. She served as personal Assistant to Ludwig Schaffrath, a major figure in the glass art renaissance of post-war Germany and a world-renowned architectural glass designer. In October of 1978 she opened her own architectural glass studio in Oakland, California and has since completed well over 200 custom architectural glass works.

 

Jaap Bong at the Richmond Police Station

A delightful policeman invited me in to see the rest of the station. This Bronze, Granite and Marble piece in the lobby of the Police Station is by Jaap (Jacob) Bong.  Bong has a piece on Fire Station #24 that you can see here.  Jaap Bongers was born in Stein, Holland and studied at the Jan Van Eyck Academie of Fine Arts and the Stadsacademie of Fine Arts, both in Maastricht, Holland. In addition to his travels to Africa, Bongers also visited the United States for the first time in 1985 and settled permanently in San Jose in 1987.

On the wall behind this mosaic were these lovely framed originals of the police station’s blueprints.

Richmond District Fire Station Blueprints

*Richmond District Police Station Horse Barn

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