West Newsmagazine 11-26-2014

16 I NEWS I
NOVEMBER 26, 2014
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
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Three geometric sculptures
donated to Creve Coeur parks
By JIM MERKEL
An ATM might fit inside it, or perhaps
one of those video games you play at bars.
Shiny black on the outside, green on the
inside, it consists of narrow steel strips
with plenty of room to look through.
Weighing 500 pounds, standing about
eight feet high and named, “Odd Shape 1,”
it has stood at the entrance to the Sheldon
Arts Gallery for three years. Two other
works of about the same height, titled Odd
Shape 2 and Odd Shape 3, have been in the
interior garden since the gallery commissioned
artist Shawn Burkard to create them
more than two years ago.
Soon, the works by the Creve Coeur
native – with a total value of $16,000 - will
grace three parks in Creve Coeur. Burkard
is donating the sculptures to the city after
their public installation at the gallery ends.
The Creve Coeur City Council accepted
the donation of the sculptures and approved
related costs at its Oct. 27 meeting.
The Public Works Department will place
them in three locations before the winter
starts for a total cost of $1,860.
“What I’m offering is
something to activate the
park spaces where they’re
located; to (help people)
see something that they
wouldn’t normally see.”
– SHAWN BURKARD
Odd Shape 1 will go near the Tappmeyer
House in Millennium Park, 2 Barnes West
Drive, south of Olive Boulevard. Odd
Shape 2 will be installed in Malcolm Terrace,
11370 St. Paul St., south of Mosley
Road. Odd Shape 3 will be installed in
Conway Park, 12301 Conway Road,
immediately west of I-270.
The installations come after a year of
planning that involved the city, the Creve
Coeur Arts Commission, neighbors and
Burkard.
“Creve Coeur is reaching out to have
something more to do with the arts in a
public space,” Burkard, a Parkway North
High School graduate, said. “I just wanted
to be part of that somehow. “What I’m
offering is something to activate the park
spaces where they’re located; to (help
people) see something that they wouldn’t
normally see.”
The Sheldon commissioned Burkard,
Creve Coeur native Shawn Burkard is pictured
next to Odd Shape 1 outside The Sheldon in
midtown St. Louis.
who now lives in the Grove neighborhood
of St. Louis, to create the public sculpture
project in 2012. Originally, the gallery
intended the project to be on display for a
year, but it extended the period of display.
Burkard, who is represented by the
Bruno David Gallery, is studying for a
Bachelor of Arts degree in fine arts at Webster
University and has experience in photography,
sculpture and painting.
“The Odd Shape (monolith) series are
large geometric forms devoid of figuration;
yet (they) explore and emphasize values of
volume, line, dimension, interior and exterior
spaces,” Burkard wrote in a description
of the works. “These nondescript
architectural elements are hollow forms
that embody both positive and negative
space. The shape changes and perceptions
shift as one moves around the objects.”
When Burkard started looking for a
place where he could donate the works, the
search led him home to Creve Coeur.
“While I was working here, I learned of
his interest in donating to the community,”
said Dan Tierney, deputy director of the
St. Louis Regional Arts Commission and
chairman of the Creve Coeur Arts Commission.
“What I like about them is their
simplicity. (They have) kind of an open
feel about them.”
Tierney said groups, including the local
arts commission, neighbors and the artist,
helped pick out the locations for the series’
final installation. The goal was to have the
art involved with the community, and vice
versa, right from the start.