Public Art
Suwanee SculpTour
The Suwanee SculpTour will be an outdoor exhibit of 10-25 sculptures displayed year-round on a walkable route through downtown Suwanee. The sculptures – representing various styles, types, materials, and sizes – will be owned by the artists and loaned to the City with pieces in the exhibit expected to change annually.
Anticipated to open in spring 2011, the Suwanee SculpTour will be funded through grants, corporate and private donations, and the community fundraising efforts of the Suwanee Arts Partnership organization. If you’d like to join the Suwanee Arts Partnership, email Toni Shrewsbury or call her at 770/945-8996. For more information about the Suwanee SculpTour, click here or email Denise Brinson.
SculpTour Timeline
| Through Nov. 2010 | Fundraising Campaign |
| Jan.-Feb. 2011 | Solicit Artists |
| Feb.-March 2011 | Select Artists |
| April-May 2011 | Install Sculpture |
‘Watercolor in the sky’
Shimmering Echoes, a suspended sculpture by Koryn Rolstad, was installed at City Hall in February 2010.
Shimmering Echoes, the suspended sculpture installed in the lobby of City Hall, was created by Seattle-based artist Koryn Rolstad, who has designed environmental public art for a multitude of locations around the world. Mounted in two areas, Suwanee’s cascading sculpture includes 12 groupings suspended from railroad-inspired aluminum track frames; 1,900 elliptical-shaped eco-resin elements in shades from translucent white and rose tones to yellow, green, and aqua as well as a reflective holographic radiant; and about a mile of 1/32-inch stainless steel cable – all held together with some 4,000 clips and another 4,000 washers. Altogether, the sculpture weighs in at 240 pounds (120 pounds per grouping).
Rolstad describes Shimmering Echoes as “a watercolor in the sky.” The piece was installed in February 2010 and publicly dedicated the following month.
Art: It’s not just for walls anymore
The mural on the back of the Town Center stage was created in fall 2006 by international sign artists who gathered in Suwanee for a Letterhead Meet.
Two groups are working hand in hand to make life in Suwanee just a bit more colorful, a bit more, well, artful. The City Council-appointed Public Arts Commission was established to work with and encourage developers to include public art or support public art as a component of new projects and to create programs that bring and promote public art in Suwanee. And, the Suwanee Arts Partnership, a volunteer-based organization, was launched to raise funds for and build community awareness of public arts initiatives.
The duties of each of Suwanee’s public arts organizations are listed below.
Public Arts Commission
- Coordinate developer component of public arts initiative.
- Develop and coordinate SculpTour program.
- Develop Citywide public art master plan.
- Recommend public artwork pieces on behalf of City of Suwanee.
- Acquire art using public art funds.
In support of Public Arts Commission initiatives, the Suwanee Arts Partnership works to:
- Create and coordinate community awareness plans/programs.
- Create and implement fundraising initiatives to support public arts.
For more information about these groups, contact Denise Brinson or Toni Shrewsbury.