Water Music Installation, October 2011,David Teeple on Lift (photo by Sondra Peron)

Water Music by David Teeple

On Friday, October 14, 2011, Acting Mayor of Northampton David Narkewicz, Northampton Arts Council Board of Directors Chairperson Betsy Stone, and artist David Teeple, performed the ribbon-cutting of the new public art on the railroad bridge.

This site-specific piece is comprised of two essential visual components – a series of stainless steel panels spanning the entire bridge, which represents the surface of water, and a suspended, blue, aerial map of the Connecticut River. The piece acts as both a painting and a sculpture. The panels will form the “ground” or “canvas” for the work, and the river represents a flowing brushstroke. But the piece also has a three-dimensional quality; the panels will float in front of the bridge, and the river will float in front of the panels.

Teeple stated, “The Connecticut River symbolizes the sustainable and ever evolving nature of Western Massachusetts – one of the most politically, culturally and socially progressive communities in the country. A river is fluid and open. It is life itself. It nourishes us, offers a place for personal reflection, provides energy, cleanses and feeds us. Water is both feminine and masculine and embodies the possibility of living with social, political, economic and environmental balance.”

For over 20 years, David Teeple’s work has addressed the theme of water. A practicing and prolific artist since 1980, he has created work in sculpture, site-relative installation, photography and works on paper. His work can be found in the public collections of The San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, The Frederick R. Weisman Foundation in Los Angeles, The Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA, The La Jolla Athenaeum, The Yuma Art Center and Hampshire College as well as many corporate and private collections nationally and internationally. Teeple was a finalist for the 2011 Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation individual grant and for a national sculpture competition in Jackson, Mississippi. 

Philip Dowling of NorthEast Painting and T.C. donated all their supplies and labor

Water Music is funded in part by the generous donations of an anonymous donor, Chartpak, the Northampton BID (Business Improvement District) and the local art gallery, Pinch.

This project would not be possible without the generous donations of supplies and labor provided by Philip Dowling of NorthEast Painting and T.C.; the City of Northampton's Department of Public Works, R.R. LeDuc Corporation, Westside Finishing, and the many volunteers. Thank you to everyone who was involved with this special project.

http://www.davidteeple.com

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