By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
There are many sights to see from Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park’s just opened Stuart and Barbara Padnos Rooftop Sculpture Garden, sights both artistic and natural.
The flora of the rooftop gardens itself and the view of a wetland area from its heights are impressive. But the sculpture — four works on loan from the famed Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., including three by artists already in Meijer Garden’s collection — each offer their own unique story.
Works by Alexander Calder, Henry Moore and Marino Marini, while unique, will be familiar to visitors of the garden.
One of the sculptures, however, David Smith’s 1963 work titled “Cubi XII”, is not only new to the garden but was of particular interest to Laurene Grunwald, Director of Sculpture, Art Collections, Exhibitions & Installations.
“David Smith was an abstract expressionist,” Grunwald said to WKTV. “He died quite young in a car accident, (so) his work is not widely available. … (Cubi XII) is an abstract piece. It is stainless steal. And it is very iconic of his work.”
In a recent WKTV Journal newscast segment, we talked with Grunwald about Smith’s work, about the history of Meijer Garden’s relationship with the Hirshhorn, now and (hopefully) in the future, as well as how size and weight of the artwork plays into the discussion and decisions on which artwork came to Grand Rapids.
