Media Release

Lawrence, KS – For more than two years, North Carolina-based sculptor Patrick Dougherty’s The Bedazzler, a temporary sculpture commissioned by the Spencer Museum of Art for a 2009 exhibition about trees, has anchored the corner of 14th Street and Jayhawk Boulevard in front of Spooner Hall. But on Friday, August 19, work crews will remove the cylindrical sculpture that swirls and climbs around a large tree on the lawn of the campus’s oldest building; the work will begin around 7 AM.

Dougherty’s sculptures are ephemeral works that typically last 18 to 24 months before the natural decomposition of the branches require removal and recycling. For each of his monumental, site-specific sculptures, Dougherty gathers saplings from local sources and, with the assistance of community volunteers, shapes them into massive forms that soar as high as 40 feet. The Spencer work was on view for 27 months, and is featured in the Museum’s publication Trees & Other Ramifications: Branches in Nature & Culture.

“Temporary does not mean forgettable,” SMA Director Saralyn Reece Hardy said. “During its time on campus, The Bedazzler has welcomed thousands of visitors, offering them a memorable recess from the bustle of contemporary life. Classes have convened there, as have picnics, wedding ceremonies, birthday parties, and romantic dates. Its impact will endure.”

Commissioned by the Spencer Museum of Art in conjunction with the spring 2009 exhibition Trees & Other Ramifications: Branches in Nature & Culture, Dougherty spent three weeks in May working with a large team of volunteers to create The Bedazzler, one of more than 200 natural-wood works he’s made worldwide since the early 1980s. The Spencer project, presented in cooperation with The Commons @ Spooner Hall, was constructed predominantly of Silver Maple and Rough-leaf Dogwood saplings that were harvested from dense, sustainable populations west of Lawrence. About 6,000 pounds of saplings were used. The elm tree it surrounded was dying of verticillum wilt before installation of the sculpture; the tree, now dead, will be removed along with the sculpture.

For their generous support of this project, the Spencer again thanks the O'Connor Company-Piller Foundation, Reed and Stacey Dillon, the Capitol Federal Foundation, the School of Architecture & Urban Design, First Management Inc., The Elizabeth Schultz Environmental Fund of the Douglas County Community Foundation, the School of Fine Arts Department of Art & Design and Department of Theatre & Film, the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, KU Facilities Operations Landscape and Engineering, the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Dougherty’s residency and commission represented yet another Spencer-driven collaboration involving KU faculty and students, and the Lawrence community. A project of this magnitude requires a large team and diverse talents, and the Museum once more thanks all of the volunteers who made The Bedazzler possible.

Carolyn Chinn Lewis, former Spencer Museum of Art assistant director, and Emily Ryan, former Spencer project coordinator/administration, served as project coordinators. Matthew Burke, assistant professor of sculpture, was project site coordinator. KU film student Sandra Ristovska filmed the activity for a documentary about the project. Craig Freeman, curator in the Division of Botany for the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center and associate scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey, assisted with site selection and the harvesting of saplings. Chris Lecuyer, Clinton Wildlife Area manager for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, helped secure the harvesting site. Kevin Wilson of First Management Inc. helped bundle, tie, and load material at the harvest site, and delivered the saplings to campus. Numerous student and community volunteers helped harvest, deliver the saplings to the project site, and assisted the artist over a three-week period in the creation of The Bedazzler on campus. The installation team was led by KU sculpture students David Cogorno, Rachel Kirkendoll, David Platter, and William Vannerson. Community and student volunteers assisting on the project included Ami Ayars, Bob Bogan, Chase Bray, Cassidy Creek, Whit Bones, Jordan Briceland, Emily Dunlap, He Xing, Andrew Hoxey, Tom Huang, Bryan Lloyd, Mingyang Liu, Matt Weaver, and Julie Whitney. From KU Facilities Operations, Mike Lang, project manager for landscape and construction, and Bill Siebenaler, engineering technician, provided key logistical and construction support on campus.

The Spencer Museum of Art houses an internationally known collection that is deep and diverse, currently numbering approximately 38,000 artworks and artifacts in all media. The collection spans the history of European and American art from ancient to contemporary, and includes broad and significant holdings of East Asian art. Areas of special strength include medieval panel painting and religious sculpture; the Kress Study Collection of early modern Italian painting; 19th-century American art and material culture; old master prints; photography; European, East Asian, and Indian textiles; American Indian pottery, beadwork, and jewelry; African sculpture; Japanese Edo-period prints; and 20th-century Chinese painting.

The Commons is a KU partnership among the Biodiversity Institute, the Hall Center for the Humanities and the Spencer Museum of Art. The Commons explores the relationships between nature and culture across the sciences, humanities and the arts. If you would like more information on The Commons please email thecommons@ku.edu.