REVISITING OLD FAVORITES AT CEDARHURST CENTER FOR THE ARTS

The outdoor gallery, known as the Kuenz Sculpture Park, at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, located in Mount Vernon, Illinois, is the ideal place to connect with contemporary art. Interspersed among 90 acres of woodland and fields are over 60 sculptures to explore and ponder. Towering groves surround many of the works providing much needed shade on sunny days, and under their canopy of branches, there is an occasional bench where one can sit and mull over the multitudinous artworks.

Over the narrow footbridge, beyond the pond, the dense arrangement of monumental sculptures dominating the front lawn gives way to smaller works situated in sparse, intimate settings among the forest. Without a map, finding them is bit like playing hide and seek as various paths snake and merge in unexpected places; one never knows what is around the next bend.

Such is the case with Bull (1997) by John Kearney. Nestled in a deep recess in the woods, Bull's stout, chromed body, fashioned from used car parts, stands alert with his head and tail erect. However, instead of confronting the approaching visitor as if facing down a matador in the bullring, Bull seems completely oblivious to the viewer's presence. Installed perpendicular to the trail, Bull's orientation calls to mind a high relief sculpture thereby diminishing its three dimensionality, as well as, the potential threat of violence a face-to-face encounter would evoke.

John Kearney, Bull, 1997 

Further along the same trail, a keen eye catches glimpses of violet peeking through the verdant foliage. As one draws nearer, Jeff Brundege's agile sea serpents swim rapidly into view. In contrast to Bull's disinterested demeanor, Brundege's The Eels (n.d.) seem to aggressively pursue the viewer; their undulating bodies surge forward, and with bared teeth, they appear poised for the attack. Made of painted fiberglass, the seven kitschy sculptures, originally designed for a Bass Pro Shop, could easily serve as props for a B-rated horror flick, and add a bit of sportive humor to the otherwise "respectable" art collection.

Jeff Brundege, The Eels, n.d.

At the confluence of two broad paths, an expansive clearing emerges revealing five oversized Pods (1998). Arranged in a semi-circle adjacent to a tangle of shrubs, Robin Murez's biomorphic sculptures immediately bring to mind black walnuts, albeit gigantic seeds made of concrete. Their course, hollow, mahogany shells, opened on one end, look as if they have been picked clean by an equally large omnivore. However, after more consideration, one can also imagine that the pitted pods are abandoned egg casings from which some alien, animal form has issued forth and taken refuge in the nearby boughs.

Robin Murez, Pods, 1998

After wandering the vast grounds, one can cool off with a visit to the Mitchell Museum. The permanent collection, amassed by collectors John and Eleanor Mitchell, comprises over 400 paintings, sculptures and decorative art objects by leading 19^th and 20^th century American artists. In addition, the museum hosts several temporary art exhibitions each year in its two rotating galleries.

Whether with lighthearted humor or the sober mindedness of a scholar, the interpretive possibilities are endless and with so much to see, Cedarhurst Center for the Arts is a place to engage with art over and over again, regardless of one's inclination.