Local sculptor creates passion for peace
Anna Nguyen
Issue date: 3/11/09 Section: Lifestyles
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In addition to creating the first Fulbright College honors medals in 1987, Kaminsky, a UA adjunct art professor, also has three of his recent sculptures displayed on the UA Union Mall.
The largest piece, "A New Spirit is Rising," is a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and takes the words from a 1967 speech by King and shows them as if they were growing out of the Earth. The piece on the left, "In a Mountain Valley," has the words of a poem about compassion by university Professor Emeritus Miller Williams. The third piece, "Cloud Landscape," depicts the World Peace Prayer, "May Peace Prevail on Earth," as forms floating over the Earth. The clouds depicted are from New York City during 9/11, Kaminsky said.
The three pieces are part of a larger group called "Pages from the Book of the Earth," and they are dedicated to the concept that the Earth speaks. Kaminsky described them as "imaginary landforms held in space by simple steel columns, with structures on the surface which are also words," according to a press release.
The artist has been working with words in his sculptures for more than 40 years. His best-known piece is the bronze World Peace Prayer Fountain in front of the Town Center on the Fayetteville square. The fountain "is the grandfather of the pieces on the UA (campus)," Kaminsky said.
The space at the Town Center reminded the artist of the Trylon and the Perisphere, located in New York City, where Kaminsky grew up. They were the central structures, known as the Theme Center, of the New York World Fair of 1939, he said.
"(The fountain) came from 50 years of dreaming," Kaminsky said.
With the aid of 20 people, the fountain took 16 months to complete. It features about 100 languages, each spreading the message "May Peace Prevail on Earth."
The fountain is partially inspired by the Tibetan prayer wheel and acts as "a map of the whole globe," Kaminsky said.
"The pieces at the UA are maps of a large sphere," he said. "Many things in the world are invisible, and (the pieces) are making things in space visible forever.
"(It's) all visual symbol," Kaminsky said, referring to the political undertones of his sculptures. "The pieces are trying to search for a truth."
Kaminsky began his career as an artist in New York City, where he is very familiar with the city and the art. But as he grew as an artist, his work began to change.
He recalled a time during which he made sculptures of dancers and sold many of the pieces. His works began to shift into more abstract themes, but they were not accepted at galleries.
Kaminsky wanted to be in a place where selling art wasn't important and decided to move to a smaller town. He settled in Fayetteville in 1985 and completed his degree at the UA.
Since he moved, Kaminsky's pieces have been become a part of the community. In addition to the World Peace Prayer Fountain, a sculpture of Sen. J. William Fulbright and a manhole with his signature words, "May Peace Prevail on Earth," also are located on the square. The artist is currently working on another manhole, which will be featured in front of the Fayetteville Public Library.
The artist has a studio, located on Government Avenue, which houses all of his tools, stencils, work and machines. The studio also boasts a massive collection of dirt.
"I rarely clean up dirt," Kaminsky said. "The life of a sculpture is to use dirt to create."
However, Kaminsky said that sculptures are not as in demand as they used to be.
"There is not a big business for making sculptures," he said. "I will have to close my studio because I cannot afford to keep it.
"I think there has always been less sculptors than painters, and I might guess that it has to do with the kinds of information we receive through our senses," Kaminsky said. "We are used to looking at graphic patterns (such as words and pictures) for our information."
Despite the lack of work, Kaminsky is still continuing to create what he loves.
He said he plans to move to a smaller studio and begin creating jewelry - which he first began to make during the beginning of his career - to sell at the farmer's market.
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