Kimmel Center Dedicates Sculpture Eight Figures by Arlene Love
Artwork a Gift of William Hollis and Andrea Baldeck
January 8, 2004
"We are excited and proud to have the opportunity to display this important work in the grand public space that is the Kimmel Center," said Kimmel Center, Inc. President and CEO Janice Price. "In the 48 hours since its arrival, Eight Figures has already delighted and intrigued our staff, volunteers and visitors and we know it will become as central to the experience of the Kimmel Center as the architecture of our building and the performances on our stages. Today we extend our warmest thanks to William Hollis and Andrea Baldeck for their generosity, and our deepest appreciation to Arlene Love for her inspiration."
Eight Figures, which has been installed on the First Tier of the Kimmel Center, consists of eight life-size female figures cast in bronze. The inspiration for this work came as the artist walked around the city in her daily life, watching people unknowingly arrange and rearrange themselves on sidewalks, in city squares and in lobbies.
"Each figure is an isolated entity, yet part of the whole," writes Love in her artist’s statement, "and because the scale is human, these figures invite us to walk among them and become part of the drama."
Arlene Love is a nationally recognized artist who lives and works in Philadelphia. She has had more than 25 solo exhibitions throughout the United States and Mexico and has shown in numerous museum and gallery exhibitions internationally. Love’s work has always concentrated on the human figure regardless of the medium in which she works. Her most familiar work in Philadelphia is Winged Woman in the garden of The Dorchester on Rittenhouse Square and the golden Face Fragment at the Monell Chemical Senses Center at 35th and Market Streets. Love’s work is in many private and public collections, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Eight Figures is a gift from William Hollis and Andrea Baldeck. Hollis, a poet, philanthropist and benefactor of the Kimmel Center, also serves on the board of trustees of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His wife, Andrea Baldeck, is a prominent photographer whose work has been extensively exhibited. The original foundry model of the Eight Figures in graphite/resin and fiberglass is installed on the grounds of their Montgomery County home. It has been their hope and the hope of the artist to see this work cast in bronze.
Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center. Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association. The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music serve as home to eight Resident Company performing arts organizations, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, American Theater Arts for Youth, Philadanco, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Peter Nero and the Philly Pops®. Kimmel Center, Inc.’s mission also includes arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming through its Kimmel Center Presents and Citizens Bank Broadway at the Academy series of performances.
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