{"id":12261,"date":"2021-02-19T11:49:21","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T18:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com\/people\/?p=12261"},"modified":"2021-02-19T11:49:47","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T18:49:47","slug":"tucson-based-artist-barbara-grygutis-has-grand-hopes-for-large-scale-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com\/people\/interviews-profiles\/tucson-based-artist-barbara-grygutis-has-grand-hopes-for-large-scale-projects","title":{"rendered":"Tucson-based Artist, Barbara Grygutis, has Grand Hopes for Large-Scale Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Tucson-based large-scale 3D artist Barbara Grygutis believes that, particularly in today\u2019s COVID world, public art can be a way to people to experience culture and joy in a safe environment \u2014 outdoors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a multitude of public art pieces on display in locations around the U.S. and even as far as Venice, Italy, Grygutis\u2019 projects often have themes of connectivity, empowerment, education, healing, nature, humankind, and more \u2014 all things that the world could use more of right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public art is a way to educate, inspire, connect and share \u2014 and I hope that people take the opportunity now to go seek it out in their own cities and towns.

I\u2019ve always used art to express important messages and to help bring people together. I\u2019m grateful that my art aligns with, and serves to represent powerful experiences, messages, and events around the country and throughout history.<\/p>
– Barbara Grygutis<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For example, Grygutis\u2019 \u201cDialogue\u201d sculpture resides at the University of Minnesota Health Sciences Learning Center, <\/em>representing and highlighting important human interactions necessary for public health including the ability to listen and the ability to dialogue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The piece, featuring two monumental 20-feet-high aluminum sculptures with integrated lighting, is highly visible as part of the University\u2019s Health Sciences Education Center and serves as an addition to the campus\u2019s robust public art collection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shape of each sculpture is a generalized human head that neither conveys gender, nor race \u2014 simply humanity. The sculptures are each unique \u2014 one is more transparent while the other is less transparent but more complex in its system of transparency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the summer of last year, the dedication of another large-scale public art piece by Grygutis was part of a celebration in Lexington, Kentucky that served as a commemoration of the women suffragists that fought for the right to vote, and the 100-year anniversary of the passage of the 19th<\/sup> Amendment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grygutis was commissioned by Breaking the Bronze Ceiling for the massive sculpture that is proudly exhibited in downtown Lexington and is aptly titled STAND. She says the piece was designed to capture the courage, willpower, and tenacity of a group of women that forever changed society for the better and the contribution made by the women of Lexington and Fayette County to this monumental achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STAND <\/em>is a 20-foot-high, 30-foot-wide aluminum sculpture with integrated lighting that encompasses five silhouetted sculptures intended to serve as a reminder of the historic significance of the women who pushed for suffrage, the achievement of the 19th Amendment, and the continuing fight for women\u2019s rights, representation and equality. STAND<\/em> is the first public sculpture to honor historic women in Lexington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist\u2019s works have even caught the attention of the European art community. Grygutis created PORTAL<\/em>, an aluminum piece with integrated lighting specifically for an <\/em>exhibition at the European Cultural Center space Giardini della Marinaressa in Venice, Italy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melding art and architectural elements on a human scale, PORTAL <\/em>is on display through February 16, 2021, as part of the Open Space exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grygutis\u2019 home state of Arizona is graced with the artist\u2019s works as well. Phoenix Light Rail riders can enjoy Grygutis\u2019 Creosote Lace<\/em>,which brings art, light, shade, and the concept of healing through the natural world to the new 50th<\/sup> Street Station in Phoenix. <\/p>\n\n\n\n