News
October 20, 2008
City Plaza's Art Will Be Its Defining Elements
The design, the character, the flavor of City Plaza has been the focus of a deliberate yet impassioned collaborative effort. The verdict of this five-year collaboration demanded that the plaza eloquently enunciate that Raleigh 2008 is creative, smart, high tech and entrepreneurial. City Plaza, it deemed, must be the natural epicenter of a thriving and vibrant Downtown.
The collaborators were the City of Raleigh, the City’s design consultant, Kimley-Horn and Associates, and the Project of Public Spaces, a New York-based firm specializing in the analysis and design of public gathering spaces. The design was developed with considerable input from the public and from City boards and commissions at design workshops in the fall of 2006. Design elements of the plaza include flexible seating, an interactive water fountain, planters and trees.
The art for City Plaza will be the signature of this special block. So what will it be?
The plaza’s art will be bold -- four 55-foot light towers that will integrate LED lights and stainless steel oak leaves. It will also include bollards incorporating the oak-leaf design and lights.
While both elements are “art” they also serve a practical purpose. The towers will be very adaptable for projection equipment that can provide light for myriad events. The bollards are positioned to control the vehicular traffic that will return to the 500 block of Fayetteville Street with the October 2009 opening of the plaza.
Jim Gallucci was chosen to be the City Plaza project artist. Mr. Gallucci is a very well known sculptor working out of Greensboro. While he has taught art at several Southern colleges, including the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of Alabama at Huntsville, he now works full time designing and creating sculptures for public, corporate and residential spaces across the United States.
Mr. Gallucci says that the project has evolved from modest light panels when he first envisioned the project, and he expects this evolution to continue over the coming months as he fabricates this centerpiece for the city.
Mr. Gallucci’s contract with the City for the design, fabrication and installation of the towers and bollards is for $2,289,356.
“I am very honored and excited to be involved in such an important project,” Mr. Gallucci said.
Why You Know Jim Gallucci
Mr. Gallucci’s work is familiar to thousands of Triangle residents since we are the home to two of his famous gates. He designed the 62-foot-long functional gate for Marbles Museum. It is called the “Whisper Gate.” Sound tubes wind throughout the structure creating a lyrical interpretation of the world while allowing children of all ages to whisper messages through the gate.
The City of Raleigh is the proud owner of “Immigrants Gate II” which was first shown at Pier Walk in Chicago in 1997 and subsequently exhibited at various parks in the Midwest. It first came to Raleigh as part of its 2003-04 Downtown Raleigh Sculpture Expo. It was later purchased by the City. Until recently it has been on exhibit across from the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts on South Street. The gate is being moved to Millbrook Exchange Park.
Prepared by:
Jayne Kirkpatrick
Director
Public Affairs Department
For More Information Contact:
Jayne Kirkpatrick
Director
Public Affairs Department
222 West Hargett Street
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-996-3100
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