By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The newest sculpture in the Simpson Garden Park incorporates art, math, science and gardening.
Created by glassworker Adam Goldberg, the Judy Knox Memorial Sundial will be dedicated Sunday (Sept. 11) at 2 p.m. in the park. The ceremony will be followed by a reception.
Goldberg, a 2011 BFA graduate of Bowling Green State University, said in a recent interview that the 9-foot tall sculpture made of glass and stainless steel grew out of his discussions with BGSU math professor Steven Seubert about using art to illustrate math concepts. They were particularly interested in the work of Johannes Kepler, who first determined the laws of planetary motion and observed the golden ratio, a key to understanding why art works look or sound pleasing to humans.
The idea for a sundial, though, came serendipitously. Goldberg was working at his downtown Toledo studio on a triangular shape. He realized when he placed it on a table and when the light struck the glass it cast a shadow. That, Goldberg realized, could be a sundial.
About this time, he posted images of a sculpture that he created for his alma mater Sylvania Northview.
Lee Hakel saw them and contacted him. She and her husband as well as Seubert and his wife, Marsha, had been supporters of is art since he was a student.
Hakel explained that a dear friend and community activist, Judy Knox, had passed away, and she and League of Women Voters were interested in having Goldberg create a memorial in her honor.
He was interested, and they discussed a price. The budget they had in mind was modest, less than what the piece would cost, but they decided they could reach out to seek further funding.
They discussed several concepts, with Goldberg suggesting the sundial. Hakel “didn’t fall in love with the idea,” he said, but in the end agreed.
Originally the sculpture was going to be placed at the new senior center on South Grove Street. The site didn’t fit Goldberg’s vision for the work. It didn’t offer the scale he was looking for nor the setting. He loves gardening, and wanted to see the sundial in that context.
So they traveled to Simpson Garden Park. He liked the park with its collection of gardens. The sundial could have fit with the sculptures, a garden of their own, on the site. But they looked further.
He found a slight rise in the middle of the park where no trees are likely to cast shadows that would interfere with the sundial. He is working with the team at the garden to decide on plantings on the site. “That’s an important part of the project.”
Being in a park visited by kids and their parents, Goldberg envisions the sundial being used as an interactive educational tool.
He hopes it prompts questions about time and our place in the solar system.
He’s also pleased to have it in Bowling Green, where he studied glass.
He started working in the craft with a friend from Sylvania when he was in high school. They took a class at the Toledo Museum of Art. Glass can be intimidating but the teacher told him “to just pretend you know what you’re doing.”
Goldberg said “I gained a Lot of knowledge,” adding “I was good with the material. I was able to manipulate the material.”
When deciding what to study in college, his parents encouraged him to study something he enjoyed. This would be the only time he would have that opportunity.
BGSU had a good glass program, so he enrolled, and studied with Scott Darlington.
The studio Gathering Glass started in 2012. He and fellow BGSU grad Stevens decided they wanted to have a small exhibit of their work and a party in conjunction with an international glass conference being held in Toledo. Goldberg’s grandfather said they could use vacant space owned by the family company Sam Okun Produce.
Then Stevens and Goldberg saw some equipment for sale online and took out loans to purchase it. “We’ve just been kind of wheeling and dealing since then,” Goldberg said.
The studio has six employees, including the founders, and all are BGSU graduates.
The Bowling Green project is an important development for the firm, he said.
They have worked both with private collectors, as well as companies and institutions. “We’ve done a lot of interior glass work but there’s been a reluctance … to put glass in an outdoor space,” he said.
Clients have been concerned about vandalism and how glass will hold up in the elements.
The Hakels, Seuberts, and other donors to the Knox Memorial Sundial, he said, “gave us an opportunity to show that I could put this material in a public space.”
