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Ballantine family to give Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College a dramatic “Reflection”
It’s official. That giant wall on the east side of the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College will soon be empty no more. Internationally renowned architect, Volkan Alkanoglu, has been commissioned to create a unique art installation for the wall. The project is championed by Richard G. and Mary Lyn Ballantine.
“The art work is named ‘Reflection’. It is inspired by the soft, colourful and iconic landscapes surrounding Durango and Fort Lewis College,” Volkan has said of the piece. “With hundreds of individual and unique components, the art piece appears to be in motion and constantly changing.”
The installation is scheduled to take place in late summer 2016, with the architect traveling to Durango to oversee the work.
“The art piece will be digitally fabricated out of light weight aluminum giving the opportunity for every component to be custom and individual, yet being integrated into a larger assemblage,” Volkan explained. “It represents the forward looking and dynamic community of the college and area.”
Born in Turkey and raised in Germany, Volkan studied at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, the Peter Behrens School of Architecture in Düsseldorf and the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. In addition to his professional work, he has taught at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Southern California Institute of Architecture.
The Ballantines are the driving force behind the new art installation and are funding the project. The Ballantine family has invested a great deal over the years to install art both at the College and around Durango.
“Outdoor art can add shapes, textures and colors that bring life to otherwise predictable settings,” said Richard Ballantine. “Viewing that art, and possibly being close to it, adds a little more spark to a person’s day.”
Among the other works at FLC that are a result of the Ballantine family’s generosity are the River Potters in front of Reed Library and The Intruder sculpture near the Community Concert Hall and Center of Southwest Studies.
More information about Volkan can be found at www.alkanoglu.com.