Flyover People Daily News

Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette:

BLUE SKY SCULPTURE

Who loves the blue sky more than me?

Nobody, that’s who.

I love, love, love it. First thing every morning when I peek out the front door, I’m looking for a clear, sunny sky. (Well, that and the cat.)

Out the front door, I look to the east for first light. Maybe sunshine doesn’t lighten everyone else’s day but it does mine. The sun and the blue sky fuel me; caffeine and chocolate are merely back-ups.

On a recent trip to Newton, the overcast sky was pale and white and leaking sprinkles. All absorbed in itself, the atmosphere had no energy to share.

But when I got to Newton, I found the Balm in Gilead, a patch of blue. And it’s still there – in Centennial Park on a slight rise.

Centennial Park has ball diamonds over yonder, but in an open, grassy area of the park you’ll find two curved panels: the Blue Sky Sculpture.

These two pieces of sky emerging from the land are made from hundreds of square ceramic tiles. The tiles are an intense cobalt blue at the top of the piece and the color lightens near the base.

Cumulus clouds appear to be sailing across the sea of sky; one cloud is split between the two panels and, in effect, ties them together. Two stylized human figures stand near the ceramic sky.

The Blue Sky Sculpture is the collaboration of artists Phil Epp and Terry Corbett. Conrad Snider made the stoneware figures.

I’ve not met Phil Epp, but I’ve seen some of his other work and I think, like me, he must be something of a sky groupie. Big skies dominate many of his paintings.

At the installation, benches for viewing the artwork are set back about 30 yards or so, where a bronze plaque reads in part:

“The Blue Sky Sculpture requires a patient and contemplative viewer. The cloud motif, the passageway, the stoneware figures, the arced shape and fluid reflective tiles are intended to blend with the natural sky.”

The passageway between the panels intrigues me. It is several feet wide and I like the idea of being able to walk through the sky, to enter that world of blue.

Gazing at this work of art, I thought of how magical it must be to see the sculpture on a day when these painted clouds and sky take on the real thing, blue sculpture against blue sky. I’d like to see life and art compete, to be there on a day when you can’t tell where art ends and real sky begins.

The city of Newton provided the land and infrastructure; the piece of art was donated by Lloyd Smith in memory of his wife, Jacqueline. The plaque states, “It is through her interest and support of the fine arts that the Newton community is the beneficiary.”

Public art enhances a city. Here in Emporia, at Sixth and Merchant, we have a bit of blue sky of our own with the “Spring in the Flint Hills” mural painted by Stan Herd and Louis Copt.

Downtown El Dorado offers a self-guided walking tour of 16 sculptures, including Phil Epp and Terry Corbett’s ceramic tile piece, “The Glory of the Hills.”

In Hoisington recently, I was delighted to find dozens of black metal banners attached to light poles along Main Street. Those pieces, designed and hand cut by Bruce Bitter, portray area history and the wildlife seen at nearby Cheyenne Bottoms.

The Blue Sky Sculpture has become an icon for Newton. Around town you’ll see street signs that guide visitors to local attractions; those signs feature a blue sky with clouds, and were also designed for the city by Epp.

Next time I visit Newton I’m hoping for a sunny day with happy white clouds so I can daydream as the live sky passes behind the sculpture.

And as I ponder what’s real and what’s not, I might even be tempted to slip through the sculpture’s passageway and disappear into the big blue sky.

Copyright 2009 ~ Cheryl Unruh

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