Artists & Communities Host Site: Pinedale Fine Arts Council
P.O. Box 1586
Pinedale, WY 82941
Web site: www.pinedaleonline.com/pfac

Millennium Artist:
Don Kennell
Sculptor
New Mexico
E-mail: ladler67@qwest.net

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

At the heart of Artists & Communities is a movement to provide people access to highly accomplished artists skilled in facilitating meaningful dialogue about local concerns, and in incorporating those views into the creation of new works of art.

By any measure, the arrival of sculptor Don Kennell in his 'art car' created quite a stir in the Wyoming community of Pinedale - equally known for its ruggedly beautiful environment and a population committed to nonconformist thinking. Kennell's subsequent Artists & Communities residency with the Pinedale Fine Arts Council provided both artist and residents ample opportunity to debate various perspectives on the role of the arts and art-making in public life.

Over the course of six months, from April 2000 to September, Kennell spoke at a series of public meetings about his vision of public artworks collaboratively developed by community members, while simultaneously creating three significant sculptural works in company with local participants.

Kennell's residency began with 21 students from Pinedale High School's Advanced Art Class. The group designed and fabricated a work, called "Slice of Paradise," that incorporates small cast aluminum sculptures representing the diversity of life in Pinedale into a landscape symbolic of the region. Installed in front of Pinedale High School, "Slice of Paradise" has become a gathering place for students as well as a model for the idea of art participation as a journey of discovery.

Kennell's residency concluded with a group from the Pinedale Senior Citizen's Center. Participants created a series of decorated tiles depicting their memories, particular places, and the life and times of Pinedale. Kennell contributed tile portraits of each senior, and all were then incorporated into a 10-ft x 6-ft mosaic "quilt" wall installed in the Pinedale City Park.

The centerpiece of Kennell's Pinedale residency, and the source of much debate throughout the community, was the design for a major sculpture to be installed in a prominent city location. Advocates for and against funding for the arts voiced their opinions, proponents of abstract versus realist art weighed in, and myriad perspectives on how Pinedale should be depicted were tabled. Ideas of what represents the area slowly evolved until a final design was agreed upon.

Finally installed in November, in Chamber Park adjacent to Pinedale's popular winter ice skating rink, the Pinedale Cowboy is a marriage of imagery illustrating the history and natural beauty of the region. A 17-ft high silhouette bust of a cowboy sheathed in copper sheets, the work speaks about the heroic nature of the local pioneers. The figure is punctuated by niches featuring smaller sculptures representing different historic images including a beaver, hay rake, trout, oil derrick, and a bull elk.

Both the design process and the actual body of work created by Don Kennell and the Pinedale residency participants reflect the fiercely independent nature associated with America's western frontiers.

Don Kennell learned a great deal from his Artists & Communities residency, commenting, "I have come to understand the role of public artwork in celebrating and inspiring a community….to continually enrich our daily lives and bind a community together through its presence…. The role of the public artist serving the community becomes possible when an artist develops a genuine relationship with a locale, its history, people, and visual qualities…"

MILLENNIUM ARTIST BIO

Don Kennell is a mixed-media sculptor who has received commissions from Raritan Valley Community College and the New Jersey Transit System. Kennell has led a number of collaborative public sculptures with students and community groups.