Three Finalists for CARE/Crawley Public Art Installation

The CARE/Crawley Building, a focal point of the medical campus with its striking architectural features, is about to get some additional ornamentation.

The building, which opened in August 2008 as Phase I of the Medical Sciences Building (MSB) rehabilitation project, qualified for a state-funded art project under Ohio’s Percent for Art legislation, which became effective July 1, 1990.

The legislation requires that 1 percent of the total capital appropriation for new or renovated public buildings costing more than $4 million be provided for the acquisition, commissioning and installation of works of public art. In the case of the CARE/Crawley Building, $278,000 has been allocated.

"Ohio Percent for Art is an extremely small but valuable part of a major construction project that results in another part of the educational experience,” says Beth McGrew, associate vice president of planning, design and construction and university architect.

"Art on a public campus plays a critical role, and many poets and artists have articulated ideas such as how observations of art can help open new avenues and alternative paths to big ideas, imagination and discovery.”

Wes Munzel, a planner in the office of planning, design and construction, says 70 artists applied for the CARE/Crawley competition, administered by the Ohio Arts Council. Three finalists— Alice Aycock of New York, Barbara Grygutis of Tucson, Ariz., and Barton Rubenstein of Chevy Chase, Md.—were paid to develop their ideas and will make presentations later this month to UC’s Percent for Art Committee, which will select the artist and vision that represent the best match for the site.

"This is the most exciting part of the process, and the committee must really examine what the art provides to the university space,” says McGrew.

The art will be located outside the CARE/Crawley Building, between the main entrance and Eden Avenue. The specific location will depend on which artist is chosen and his or her concept. Installation could occur this summer, Munzel says.

Since Ohio’s Percent for Art legislation went into effect, more than 100 projects have been completed. Several are in place at UC, including ''Belief,'' the large bronze leaf located west of the Vontz Center for Molecular Studies. The artist is Terry Allen of Santa Fe, N.M.