"Sculptural Bliss" – Tania Kelvin

 My proposal is for a bronze sleeping dog statue to be placed in the large cement courtyard area adjacent to the art buildings, art gallery, and Student Services/Library building. I am actually the artist and the only one existing is the original, approximately 15 inches long. It will greatly improve this part of the Mesa College campus by offering a unique contemporary original piece as well as being functional as a place to sit, lean, or climb on. It would also make a great “meeting spot” destination for students.

The sleeping dog is smooth and modern, but brings a blissful feeling to viewers. Students are busy and this will remind them to take a moment to rest and they can…on the sculpture. Additionally, it brings an animal figure (and awareness) to campus in a non-threatening way (being this large).

Although I enjoyed researching the various artists on the KPBS series website about Art in the 21^st Century, however the closest influence to what I am presenting is “Bear,” the sculpture by Tim Hawkinson…of the Stuart Collection. It is a much larger scale, but both are animals that evoke joy by people who view and interact with them.

I believe I should win this competition since I am an emerging modern artist, a Mesa College student, this sculpture is functional art, and can be enjoyed from all angles as students walk around it. We live in a 3D world and pop culture is proving how popular that is with all the 3D games and movies emerging. This is long lasting art, being bronze to last over time, gets better with age, and can be seen as a different piece from every angle. – Tania Kelvin