Artist Masayuki Nagase, of Berkeley, CA, has been chosen to leave his
mark on Main Street Square's granite sculptures.
A California-based sculptor will carve, mostly by hand, the granite sculptures in Main Street Square for the next three to five years, Destination Rapid City will announced on December 11, 2012.
Masayuki Nagase beat out 87 other applicants for the $2 million project privately financed by Destination Rapid City and the John T. Vucurevich Foundation. Nagase will work mostly with a hammer and chisel, a method the committee selecting the artist preferred rather than high-tech machinery.
"It just gives people an opportunity to work with the artist in a way they wouldn't if it looked like a construction project," said Anna Huntington, the community arts coordinator for Destination Rapid City, which is behind the granite sculpture project.
Huntington said Nagase wants passers-by to stop and talk to him while he's carving the granite. Other applicants had more high-tech plans such as using laser machinery.
"I can see with hand carving going on, people watching for hours," Dan Senftner, president of Destination Rapid City, said Monday. "It's like the old watchmaker who does the intricacy of building a clock rather than mass producing a Timex for $8."
Nagase will also mentor some local apprentices in addition to working with the Rapid City elementary schools to give the students a sample of the working artist's life.
Destination Rapid City will announce Nagase's selection at a press conference at 10 a.m. today at its offices at Main Street Square. Nagase will not be present, however.
Nagase, originally from Japan, trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tokyo and completed a traditional stone carving apprenticeship in the granite quarries there. He has sculpted granite for more than 30 years and has a wife and 9-year-old daughter in Berkeley, Calif.
The committee chose Nagase from 88 applicants and five finalists, who toured the Black Hills and Badlands in August. Each finalist was given $10,000 to create a specific, original proposal.
Nagase's plan focus on two West River landmarks: the Black Hills, symbolized by water, and the Badlands, symbolized by wind. The low-relief impressions will not overtly portray items like gold pans and cowboy hats.
"The carvings will be metaphors for their energy that changes the land and sustains life at the same time. The story is about optimism in the face of constant change," Nagase said in a statement.
The granite stones along Sixth Street will refer to the Black Hills while the ones along Main Street will refer to the Badlands, with the two 35-foot spires at the intersection. The interior and exterior of the stones will tell different stories but focus on "one overarching story about the power of nature to both erode and restore the land and those who live there," Nagase said.
Tourism groups around the city and state are already planning on marketing the project to tourists as a destination. Those groups include the Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce and the South Dakota Department of Tourism, according to Senftner.
A website devoted exclusively to the project will go live this month and a temporary exhibit featuring Nagase's work will open Jan. 11 at the Dahl Arts Center.
The artist selection committee chose Nagase for his commitment to involving the public in the sculpture's creation, his subtle and timeless design, his specialty carving granite and the feasibility of his proposal.
"People can go right up to, see it and touch it and interact with the artist," Huntington said.
Click HERE to visit the Sculpture Project website and HERE to visit
the Facebook page!
mark on Main Street Square's granite sculptures.
A California-based sculptor will carve, mostly by hand, the granite sculptures in Main Street Square for the next three to five years, Destination Rapid City will announced on December 11, 2012.
Masayuki Nagase beat out 87 other applicants for the $2 million project privately financed by Destination Rapid City and the John T. Vucurevich Foundation. Nagase will work mostly with a hammer and chisel, a method the committee selecting the artist preferred rather than high-tech machinery.
"It just gives people an opportunity to work with the artist in a way they wouldn't if it looked like a construction project," said Anna Huntington, the community arts coordinator for Destination Rapid City, which is behind the granite sculpture project.
Huntington said Nagase wants passers-by to stop and talk to him while he's carving the granite. Other applicants had more high-tech plans such as using laser machinery.
"I can see with hand carving going on, people watching for hours," Dan Senftner, president of Destination Rapid City, said Monday. "It's like the old watchmaker who does the intricacy of building a clock rather than mass producing a Timex for $8."
Nagase will also mentor some local apprentices in addition to working with the Rapid City elementary schools to give the students a sample of the working artist's life.
Destination Rapid City will announce Nagase's selection at a press conference at 10 a.m. today at its offices at Main Street Square. Nagase will not be present, however.
Nagase, originally from Japan, trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tokyo and completed a traditional stone carving apprenticeship in the granite quarries there. He has sculpted granite for more than 30 years and has a wife and 9-year-old daughter in Berkeley, Calif.
The committee chose Nagase from 88 applicants and five finalists, who toured the Black Hills and Badlands in August. Each finalist was given $10,000 to create a specific, original proposal.
Nagase's plan focus on two West River landmarks: the Black Hills, symbolized by water, and the Badlands, symbolized by wind. The low-relief impressions will not overtly portray items like gold pans and cowboy hats.
"The carvings will be metaphors for their energy that changes the land and sustains life at the same time. The story is about optimism in the face of constant change," Nagase said in a statement.
The granite stones along Sixth Street will refer to the Black Hills while the ones along Main Street will refer to the Badlands, with the two 35-foot spires at the intersection. The interior and exterior of the stones will tell different stories but focus on "one overarching story about the power of nature to both erode and restore the land and those who live there," Nagase said.
Tourism groups around the city and state are already planning on marketing the project to tourists as a destination. Those groups include the Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce and the South Dakota Department of Tourism, according to Senftner.
A website devoted exclusively to the project will go live this month and a temporary exhibit featuring Nagase's work will open Jan. 11 at the Dahl Arts Center.
The artist selection committee chose Nagase for his commitment to involving the public in the sculpture's creation, his subtle and timeless design, his specialty carving granite and the feasibility of his proposal.
"People can go right up to, see it and touch it and interact with the artist," Huntington said.
Click HERE to visit the Sculpture Project website and HERE to visit
the Facebook page!
Main Street Square Sculptures
Granite Drawings - Click on the links below to access architectural drawings.
- BADLANDS STONE DETAILS
- BLACK HILLS STONE DETAILS
- ADDITIONAL STONE DETAIL
- MAIN STREET SQUARE SITE PLAN
See below for photographs of the stones.
- BADLANDS STONE DETAILS
- BLACK HILLS STONE DETAILS
- ADDITIONAL STONE DETAIL
- MAIN STREET SQUARE SITE PLAN
See below for photographs of the stones.
BADLANDS STONES
BLACK HILLS STONES
ADDITIONAL STONES
