City Council members approved $80,000 in funding for the project in the fiscal year 2023-24 work plan and $5,000 was added after a Friends of the Library donation, a nonprofit organization that works to benefit the library and the community. The project is a collaboration between the arts advisory and library boards, and is part of the Public Art Master Plan, which strives to embolden the city's identity through artwork that captures its history, environment, culture and future, said James Kunke, community relations and tourism director for the city.
Council selected Massachusetts glass artist Michele Gutlove from a pool of 241 applicants last spring to complete the work. About $75,000 will cover designing, creating and installing the artwork, and the remaining funds will be used for site preparation and contingencies, according to city documents. Council approved the project contract Aug. 5.
The two-part sculpture will have a piece wrapped around the column and another piece suspended from the ceiling, and be made with glass that reflects light, Gutlove said.
“What will happen is that when the lights shine on the glass it will create blue shadows and the reflections will be golden and amber so it will look like sunlight reflecting off of the lake,” Gutlove said.
The details
Gutlove has more than 20 years of experience as an architect and artist in various mediums, with around 50 public art installations worldwide including one at a welcome center in Ennis, Texas. While she started out in watercolor painting, Gutlove said she has always wanted to do large installation art pieces since childhood, which her architecture background gave her the confidence to do.
Glasswork combines both of her backgrounds, and Gutlove practices a form called warm glass which shapes glass in a kiln and predates the 2,000-year-old glassblowing technique, she said.
“If you think of glassblowing; you take hot glass and shape it while it's cooling. I take cold glass and shape it while it's heating up,” Gutlove said.
Equally as important as shaping the glass is understanding how the pieces interact with the light, she said, such as when sunlight hits a stained glass window cascading rainbow hues throughout a room. Additionally, the space the art is installed in acts as the final component of the artwork with each tailored to reflect the location and community around it, Gutlove said.
When undertaking an art commission, Gutlove dives into research about a city’s history, culture and environment. With her latest sculpture she read about the library and the lake, and how they have changed over time. She also considered the demographics of library goers, which inspired Gutlove to embody the deep ties to nature rooted in city residents, she said.
“I couldn't take the piece from [the] library and stick it in a juvenile courthouse in Iowa. It wouldn't fit,” she said. “That's the thing about public art that I love, that each piece is custom, each piece is really suited to the space.”
The impact
Creating this unique identity was an integral component when creating the public art master plan in 2018, Kunke said. Since that time, the Arts Advisory Board, which enacts the plan, has launched various surveys in which respondents expressed a desire for artwork that creates a “wow factor” and reflects the city’s culture.
“If you have two communities side by side that are similar in 29 out of 30 ways, but the 30th way is one that has a great public art program, people are going to lean toward the public art city over the non-public art city,” Kunke said.
This identity and appeal can also help drive economic development throughout the city. When public spaces are full of artwork, it can drive foot traffic to local businesses and cause residents to spend more time out in their community which stimulates the local economy, Kunke said.
Economic studies by Americans in the Arts, an organization dedicated to promoting the value of arts around the country, showed that public art increases a community’s appeal to businesses and development companies.
The organization’s sixth Arts and Economic prosperity study released in 2023 found that Lewisville nonprofit arts and culture audiences spent an average of $29.44 per person, per event. In 2022, the city’s art and culture organizations and their audiences spent a combined total of almost $3 million, according to the study. Lewisville was included in the nationwide study as a prominent figure in the North Texas public art space alongside Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco and McKinney.
Since adopting the plan, the city has undertaken a spate of art projects from sculptures to murals to enhancing on ordinary infrastructure, such as electrical boxes, with artwork. Other than a couple donated pieces and the artwork at the 2015 bond-funded recreation center, Thrive, almost all the projects have been funded through hotel and motel taxes, Kunke said.
However, in the future, city officials could explore funding projects through additional donations, sales tax, sponsorships and allocating portions of the general fund, he said.
Going forward
Installation for the Lewisville Public Library sculpture is tentatively scheduled for January, Gutlove said, and she will direct the process with her team. She plans to work with the library to determine the best time to close the building or block off the stairway for the installation.
In past installations Gutlove has planned the loudest construction during the day and scheduled anything that would block entryways at night. Gutlove said she also plans to create two additional pieces to give to the librarian so kids can feel the sculpture without disrupting the actual piece. She hopes the piece will improve the quality of life for not only the employees who work there, but the entire community for years to come.
“It makes it more special when you walk in and you feel,” Gutlove said. “I think the artwork in the library helps people feel that 'This is my library. This is not a generic library; this is my library'.”
City staff and the Arts Advisory Board will continue to identify opportunities for public art including trail and park renovations outlined in the 2024 bond voters approved in May, Kunke said.
Additionally, the city is exploring starting a mural grant program to help foster and expand mural artwork throughout the city. The plan could be introduced in 2025 as the city continues efforts to cement its artistic identity and culture ahead of its 100th birthday, Kunke said.
“The permanence of art can be incredibly powerful," Kunke said. "With big pieces like monuments, the permanence of them really says a lot to a community, knowing that, ‘Hey, I'm looking at this now, and my grandkids might look at it 30 years.’”
