LEXINGTON, KY - "Energy Source," a bronze casting of a 1985 sculpture by renown Lexington artist John Tuska, will be on display in the Mayor's Office on 12th floor of City Hall from 5-8 p.m. during Gallery Hop, this Friday, Sept. 18 as part of an evening honoring the late UK art's professor.
"The Tuska sculpture is accessible to all citizens. Energy Source is designed to be enjoyed by sight or by touch," Newberry said in a press release.
Tuska was an artist on the rise in New York City when he made the decision, inexplicable to many of his compatriots, to abandon his life in the city for Lexington, Kentucky. "It was his home since 1974, the only home my mother and father ever bought. My father was very happy here. It was a great place to raise a family and we weren't going to move back to New York," explained Tuska's son Seth who has worked for 12-years to preserve his father's 300 piece collection, transforming the family home on the corner of Old Park and Central Avenues into a museum.
Urban County Councilwoman Diane Lawless pointed out that John Tuska could have chosen to live anywhere in the United States or around the world. "He was an incredible artist, very prolific, and he chose Lexington to be his home," she noted, leaving in the air the question of what should and can be done to preserve the Tuska legacy and collection.
"Forming a non-profit or a foundation is not an easy task," offered LexArts president and CEO Jim Clark. "One of the challenges is to find ways to reach out to the community and to create connections with the universities and with the educational systems so that the artist-educator part of John's legacy could live on and encourage other artist-educators. I think that could be the great basis for this foundation in addition to using the collection as a way to educate people on a daily basis.
This is not a proposition to be entered into lightly," Clark continued. "We're talking about an important collection that has to be preserved and protected. There are issues with storage and how it's exhibited. These are things that we as a community need to think about in terms of providing the resources to make that happen."
After Gallery Hop, the Tuska sculpture will remain on display in the Government Center Lobby for several weeks.
Gallery Hop will also feature 18 Tuska pieces next door to City Hall at the Kentucky Theatre Gallery, 214 E. Main. There will also be two showings at the Kentucky (5:30 and 6:30 p.m.) of Non Basta Una Vita (One life is not enough), a 2008 documentary about John Tuska.
In addition to the Tuska work, photographs by Doug Prather and architectural drawings of plans for the Lyric and Lexington's streetscape will be on display.