At his home, which he calls Serendipity
(a “site-specific piece still in progress”), he began
making amateurs and clay preliminary sculptures for
a bronze fountain comprised of four life-size figures. The
actual bronzing process is being carried out in the
sculpture department of Morehead State University,
another collaborative process in which McKinney gets
the opportunity to teach techniques to students by
example. The family portrayed in the sculpture
consists of a man, a woman, a small boy, and a girl. The
man holds the boy, who pours water continuously from
a pail into the fountain, which splashes the female
figures. The girl seems to want to play in the
water, but also cringes away from the splash. Interestingly,
for the girl, McKinney based his sculpting not on a
model, but on preliminary drawings and measurements
of proportion. Like the mural project, students
assist in the labor, and the finished piece will serve
as part of the new entrance of King’s Daughters Medical
Center in Ashland. It is to be the first commissioned
sculpture in Ashland, and this is signature and surprising,
being that the town is fairly large and prosperous. McKinney
said that the purpose of public art is to instill pride
in the community, and the more concentration of art
in an area, the more inspiration will be continually
regenerating. What often draws tourists to cities
is the concentration of art, and celebrations of culture
and history, and the difference public art like a fountain
can make in atmosphere, environment, and civic pride
is worth the city’s investment. A fountain, like
a colorful mural, energizes a place.
•••
“Energy,” said William Blake, “is
eternal delight,” a contrast to Berry’s description
of the natural resources excavated from the Appalachian
Mountains. This a famous quote for artists and
art students, in the context that art of inspiration
is an endlessly enjoyed natural resource, a symbolic
immortality, an assurance that whatever the style,
it will be influential as long as it can be seen. Energy
as vision, as work, as progress, these are the goals
and obligations of Appalachian artists today. .Sam
McKinney’s goal is to live a quality life, to approach
art as a lifestyle rather than as a career, and to
succeed in the endeavor, in his words, “is bliss.”
Written by: (Former Student)
Naomi Sheehan, 2002 |
