Cat Shrine

Project Outline:

                

    My proposal is to create an area in the Brackenridge Park in San Antonio to make reference to the park committee’s decision to shelter and feed the city’s fixed cats. Currently, an area of the park [1,2] is reserved for food bowls that are filled regularly by the park staff. The area is located in the woods [10], away from the public. Not surprisingly, few people know that the park committee is sheltering cats that otherwise would be euthanized. The Cat Shrine project intends to make the visitors acknowledge the committee’s decision. It consists in creating a thematic area nearby the food bowls that has four major features:

      1)      A central round concrete circle [8] (radius around 5 feet) on which stand five real size stone cat sculptures and four food bowls. Two of the sculptures will emulate cats eating out of the same food bowl. One of the sculptures will be eating out of a food bowl on its own. The last cat sculpture will be sunbathing near the center of the circle.

      2)      By each of the three nearby benches, there will be one real size stone cat sculpture with the following shapes: a) lying under the bench [7]. b) Near the barbecue grill, as if it was asking for food [5]. c) Sitting few feet away from the bench [6].

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      3)      Cat footsteps on the concrete sidewalk [9]. The footsteps will follow a long trail; long enough so the central concrete circle will not be visible. The first indication that a visitor is approaching the Cat Shrine then must be the footsteps on the concrete sidewalk.

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      4)      A stone cat sculpture resting on the top of the tree [11]

Felipe Barroso

The Hilltopper Trail

Every time I enter onto the St. Edward's campus from South Congress Ave., I feel like the entry is not noticeable enough for the casual drive-by. In order to enhance the entryway, I have chosen to create indentions into the Earth's surface representing a goat's footsteps. The trail would begin on the opposite side of South Congress, turn into campus, and then turn off on a tangent and disappear onto the landscaping on the east side. Not only would it be there to provide a visual aid to those driving by or entering, but also to help motivate school spirit and provide a work of art to this art-less campus. The idea is for the path to cross upon the sidewalk so anybody walking can get the experience too. A problem occurs in that cars would not be able to sustain driving over a series of pothole like indentions. In order to fix this issue, each footprint will be filled with transparent silicone gel, like that of an iPhone case.

-Daniel Manning

Ragsdale Waterfall

For my public art proposal, I would like to add falling waterfalls to an entire outside wall of Ragsdale building on the St. Edward's Campus. The side of Ragsdale that will have the waterfall is the outside wall that is connected to Joe's Coffee Shop in Ragsdale. The doors and windows outside of Joe's will have to be removed for this project, and the tables will have to be moved farther out. The waterfall will include free falling water, falling about an inch or two from the wall. The waterfall will start at the highest point of that side of the building, and will then empty into a 1 foot wide, 1 foot deep sized pool. The pool will have fish and flowers in it. The pool that the waterfall will enter into will span the length of the bottom of that side of Ragsdale. When the water is entered into the pool, it will go through a system that allows the water to be recycled back into the waterfall, thus water is saved and the waterfall is re-using water. 

 What inspired me to do this project was this beautiful house with a falling waterfall outside of it. The sound of the running water is soothing, and the image of the waterfall is also beautiful. I wanted to do this project outside of Ragsdale because I often study there, and I feel that the area is bare and students could use an interesting and beautiful attraction such as a waterfall.

-Victoria Turrentine

A Working Icon

For my Public Art Proposal, I chose to use the entrance of St. Edward's. We all know that the red doors are an icon of the school. Yet, we never really get to see them since they face the opposite side of where the majority of students have to walk to class. So, I propose that we make a replica of the doors at the entrance of the school. That way you actually have to go through the doors to get into the school.

- Debbie Spiro

Sports Park and Playground with Sculpture

Originally, I was looking for an open area of land in an under-privileged area in Austin to construct a new sports park, but then I found this elementary school that looked like it needed work. This school is located on the east side of Austin near Cesar Chavez Blvd. The playground and track is open to the community, except for during school hours. This place needs a lot of work done, and so I decided to choose this site as my public work proposal. My proposal contains mainly architectural work, but it also includes some art. I would like to build a new playground out of recycled materials such as rubber mulch and plastic cartons, a new track and football/soccer field, and also improve the basketball court. As far as the color scheme goes, since the school's mascot is an aztec and their colors are gold and green, I would integrate those colors in all of the structures. Since the location is on mostly school property, I thought it would be appropriate to also place a sculpture similar to the one in my drawing, in order to motivate the children that go there and also others who live in the neighborhood. The sculpture would be made of bronze in order to stand out better. I would place this in an area where just about everyone can see it, no matter what activity they are taking part in. My motivation came from the fact that I enjoy sports, and also from my goal to get people of all ages more active.

By: Geovan Franco

The Hilltoppers

       If you understand the history of St. Edward’s University, you know that the school was founded in 1878 by Father Sorin. Sorin originally obtained the property from an old woman who owned the farm that occupied the land. The University appointed the mascot to be the St. Edward’s “Hilltoppers” in honor of the hill that the school sat on. When you walk around many university’s campuses, you can easily find statues of their mascots spread out around the grounds. Although this may be true in some instances, St. Edward’s does not have a statue of our beloved Hilltopper! So, my idea is to create sculptures that will represent the goats that used to call our hill their home. These pieces of art will be interactive since many students and visitors will be able to sit, play, jump, and admire them.

On top of the hill, Main Building towers over the soccer fields that lie below. In order to get down to the soccer fields, one must carefully climb down the steep incline. My plan is to spread out the Hilltopper sculptures all along the hill in order to represent the goats in their habitat. I plan on creating about 5 to 6 sculptures as to not crowd the hill, and I intend to use bronze as my material of choice in order to give the sculptures definition. They will stand about five feet tall each and be placed in various positions, such as one or two grazing, looking out into the distance, and mingling together. I intend to have them anchored down by several unseen stakes that dig several feet into the ground. There will be a plaque at the bottom of the hill that will tell the story of the goats and why St. Edward’s became known as the Hilltoppers. Please understand that I am not the best artist and that the picture given was only created to show you where I intend the sculptures to stand! 

-Alexander Sumners 

Iron Wave

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevehopson/5883522686/

This sculpture by Chris Levak combines the two worlds of skating and plants. The front side is a quarter pipe and the back side is a garden trellis and it is located downtown in Austins newest skatepark. Levak connects the parks natural and man-made surroundings with this "iron wave" that references the water of the nearby Shoal Creek.

-Annie Fuentes