HORIZON ~
7’ h. x 16’ w. x 5’6” d.
Concrete & Steel.
2001
Museum of Outdoor Arts.
Englewood, CO.
HORIZON
Horizon was created as a site-specific piece for the Museum of Outdoor Arts and City of Englewood. I use my sculpture to move beyond cultural understanding, blending forms inspired by the Rocky Mountains to create deceptively simple, tactile works of art. The silhouette of the horses mimics the foothills in the distance. Horses were the primary mode of transportation in the old west, and translate well next to the modern light rail stop. The sculpture also calls to mind the racetrack and carousel horses of Cinderella City that once stood on this site. The history of Englewood influences this work in other ways. During the sculpture’s construction, old wheel forms from General Ironworks where integrated into the sculpture. These forms were used to manufacture the wheels on trains and mechanical equipment for local industry and reused to cast the wheels that provide “locomotion” for the horses.
www.moaonline.org
www.moaonline.org
Steel Armature Fabrication ~ Joe Riche
The process of art is the underlying driving criteria in collection acquisition of the Museum of Outdoor Arts. From an emerging artist stage and throughout her career as an artist, Amy Laugesen has had an innate understanding of the relevance and intricacies of process. Specifically, from concept to accomplishment she knows and is educated about the infrastructure, use of materials, layering, site, safety and the outreach with the client. However, although intrinsically important, process and technical ability is only the means to communicate the artist’s intent. It is the pencil to the drawing of a vision and not the vision itself. Only a truly gifted artist can utilize process to evoke emotion.
I’m most familiar with Amy’s art that is based on theme related to the horse. Amy has an affinity with horses and that reverence is apparent in her work Early in her career, Amy met the challenge of creating “Horizon” a major public sculpture based on the horse. “Horizon” is part of MOA’s collection and an icon for the city of Englewood. The installation was inspired by the site with the Colorado front range as the backdrop. In the sculpture the horses along with the wheels at their base symbolize how cultural progress resulted in favoring the trolley and then the automobile over the horse. Yet the horses in Amy’s piece are more than a sentimental equivalent. They are ingrained in our history.
Cynthia Madden Leitner
President and CEO
Museum of Outdoor Arts
Englewood, CO
DAWN
DAWN ~ Concept Sketch. 2002
DAWN, the sculpture located on permanent display in the median at 6th Avenue and Roslyn Street in the Lowry development area, was created in the spring of 2002 as part of the touring public art exhibition titled “New Urbanism” sponsored by the Museum of Outdoor Arts and the Lowry Foundation. The artwork is constructed out of concrete and steel.
Two of the horses gallop east, as one flies west toward the Rocky Mountains which visibly rise as a majestic backdrop in that direction.
The three horses that make up the artwork respond to the east and west bound traffic flow on 6th avenue and the history of Lowry Air Force Base. The artwork symbolizes the constant motion of the rising and setting sun that brings forth the “Dawn” of a new day.
DAWN has remained on 6th avenue well past the New Urbanism Exhibition. In December of 2005, the Laugesen Family gifted DAWN to the Lowry community in loving memory of Sonja De Vries. www.lowrydenver.com/art-and-history/public-art/
Sonja De Vries, a close family friend, was killed by an intoxicated driver at the intersection of Alameda and Holly on July 18, 2004. Sonja was 19 years old. Sonja is survived by her parents, Carolyn and Van De Vries. They live close-by in Denver, Colorado.
Two of the horses gallop east, as one flies west toward the Rocky Mountains which visibly rise as a majestic backdrop in that direction.
The three horses that make up the artwork respond to the east and west bound traffic flow on 6th avenue and the history of Lowry Air Force Base. The artwork symbolizes the constant motion of the rising and setting sun that brings forth the “Dawn” of a new day.
DAWN has remained on 6th avenue well past the New Urbanism Exhibition. In December of 2005, the Laugesen Family gifted DAWN to the Lowry community in loving memory of Sonja De Vries. www.lowrydenver.com/art-and-history/public-art/
Sonja De Vries, a close family friend, was killed by an intoxicated driver at the intersection of Alameda and Holly on July 18, 2004. Sonja was 19 years old. Sonja is survived by her parents, Carolyn and Van De Vries. They live close-by in Denver, Colorado.
DAWN ~ Concrete & Steel. 7’ h. x 16' 9" w. x 6' d. Lowry, CO.
Steel Armature Fabrication ~ Select Welding
