New sculpture focal point of Goodyear ballpark
by Elias C. Arnold - Jan. 19, 2009 01:15 PM
The Arizona Republic
Goodyear's new spring-training ballpark got a dramatic artistic touch Friday with the installation of a baseball-themed sculpture more than 60 feet tall.
Using a crane, artist Donald Lipski installed his white, wing-shaped sculpture with red baseball stitches on the ballpark's plaza, southeast of Estrella Parkway and Yuma Road. It will serve as a focal point and meeting place for fans visiting the ballpark.
"Magnificent," City Councilwoman Georgia Lord said of the 6,000-pound piece, made in Sparta, Wisc.
It shows Goodyear is "moving to new heights," Lord added. "It's going to be a piece of work people are going to talk about. It's not ho-hum."
The fiberglass and steel sculpture is meant to bear stark contrast with Goodyear's flatness while drawing on "Bird in Space," a 1923 work by sculptor Constantin Brancusi.
San Antonio artist James Hendricks, who is designing benches for Goodyear's Western Avenue improvement project, stopped by Friday to watch the installation. He was in town for meetings about his own project.
Hendricks said he could see how Lipski had drawn on Brancusi's work while "playing" with the baseball theme. Reinterpreting others' work is common in the art world, Hendricks noted.
"I actually think it's very impressive," he said.
Goodyear will pay Lipski $450,000 for the 60-foot, 6-inch sculpture, built to match the distance on a baseball diamond between home plate and the pitcher's mound. The artwork satisfies a city guideline calling for capital improvement projects to include art.
A dedication ceremony for the sculpture is planned for Feb. 21, ahead of the ballpark's opening day. The Cleveland Indians will play their first game Feb. 25 against the San Francisco Giants.
Goodyear and the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority are funding the $108 million spring-training complex, which has a 10,000-seat stadium and training quarters for the Indians and the Cincinnati Reds.
Like the Indians, the Reds are leaving Florida's Grapefruit League to join the Cactus League, starting in 2010.