Dale Eldred (b. Minneapolis, Minnesota 1933; d. Kansas City, Missouri 1993) was an internationally acclaimed sculptor renowned for large-scale, city-wide sculptures^[1], that blended natural and laser light.^[2].

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Sculpture 3 Commissions, Museums and Private Collections 3.1 United States 3.2 International 4 Awards and honors 5 Publications 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Early life and education

The son and grandson of immigrant builders, Dale prided himself on his Yankee ingenuity. Eldred came to Kansas City in 1959, fresh out of the University of Michigan. Within a year, he was named chairman of the sculpture department of the Kansas City Art Institute.

Eldred was a big, strong man, a college football player, who was characterized by a close friend as possessing thick, strong hands. He was known to be resilient in the face of challenge, such as the fire in 1991 that destroyed a studio that contained his library and many valuable artworks.

Eldred chaired the Sculpture department at the Kansas City Art Institute for 33 years and a fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

[edit] Sculpture

Eldred built sculptures which reveal natural phenomena. Light breaks into smaller wave lengths which we see as real radiant color—red, yellow, orange, green, blue, violet. From any one point of view, the colors change continually throughout the day with the Earth's rotation (and the changing relative position of the sun. "I want the sculpture to remind us all," he says "that our lives are inextricably linked to light, and that our universe is in constant motion."[1]

Eldred became known for large installations, often using metal materials and light. One of his local projects was creating the set for "Voyager," a ballet performed by the State Ballet of Missouri. His sculpture of large black slabs of wood leaning at different angles is placed near the entrance of the Kansas City Art Institute.

He collaborated with many talented people including American music composer Phillip Glass while mentoring others such as New York fashion designer Marisol Deluna while she attended the Kansas City Art Institute.

[edit] Commissions, Museums and Private Collections

[edit] United States

Arizona

• Time/Light Fusion, 1990, Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale
• Time Garden, 1990, Arizona State University, Tempe
• Vision Lens: Light and Future, 1990, Arizona State University, Tempe

Florida

• Solar Time Plane, 1984, Broward County Main Library, Fort Lauderdale
• Light Abacus I, 1990, Criser Hall, Gainsville
• Sun Stations, 1983, Coconut Grove Station, Miami
• Earth and Sky Garden, 1984, University of South Florida, College of Public Health courtyard, Tampa

Illinois

• Urban Time and Light Field, 1985, Cermak Plaza Shopping Center, Berwyn

Iowa

• Landscape Piece #1, 1965, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines
• Model for Landscape, 1967, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines

Kansas

• Salina Piece, 1969, University of Kansas, Lawrence
• Untitled, 1968, litho, Spencer Gallery of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence
• Untitled, 1968, litho, Spencer Gallery of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence
• Galileo's Garden, 1984, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park

Michigan

• Untitled, 1973, Grand Valley State University, Allendale

Minnesota

• Mankota Piece, 1968, Riverfront Park, Mankota

Missouri

• Heritage Fountain, 1977, Blue Valley Park, Kansas City
• Steeple of Light, 1990 - 94, Community Christian Church, Kansas City
• Signage, Harry J. Epstein Hardware, Kansas City
• East Gate Piece, 1966, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City
• Homage to the Ancients, 1975, print, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City
• Seven Views of the Grand Canyon, 1985, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City
• Sculpture II, 1963, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
• Standing Iron, 1962, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
• Untitled, 1962, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City
• Sun Field, 1991, Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis

North Carolina

• Time + Light Tower, 1991, Capital Blvd & Fairview Dr, Raleigh

Ohio

• Light Path Crossing, 1987, Case Western University, Cleveland
• Sun Obelisk, 1974, Promenade Park, Toledo

Oklahoma

• Tulsa Time and Light Continuum, 1983, Convention Center, Tulsa
• Radiant Range, 1993, Convention Center, Tulsa
• Kansas Landmark (Drum Piece), 1965, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa

Oregon

• Levitated Light, 1987, Portland State University, School of Business Administration, Portland

Tennessee

• Airport Sun Project, 1989, Nashville International Airport, Nashville

Utah

• Light and Time Incident, 1995, Utah State University, Science / Technology Library, Logan

Virginia

• Light Garden, 1988, Virginia Beach

Wisconsin

• Appleton Aurora, 1989, Appleton Center, Appleton

[edit] International

• City Art Museum, Helsinki (Finland)
• Cankaya Cultural and Arts Foundation, Ankara, Turkey

[edit] Awards and honors

He received numerous awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and grants from the Ford Foundation, the American Institute of Architects and the National Endowment of the Arts.

Dale Eldred died when he fell through the floor of his West Bottoms studio, trying to save his tools. He was a victim of the "500-year" flood in the summer of 1993, when the Missouri River inundated parts of Kansas City.

[edit] Publications

Ralph Coe. Dale Eldred: Sculpture Into Environment, ISBN 0700601597, Regents Press Kansas, 1978.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Roberta Lord, The Sky Above Dale Eldred
• Biography: Kansas City Public Library
• Homage to Dale Eldred, Jürgen Claus Leonardo, Vol.28, No.4 (1995), pp.328-329, Published by: The MIT Press
• New York Times, Wednesday, July 28, 1993
• Kansas City Missouri, Office of the City Clerk, Legislation #930908, 8/5/1993, Special Action Resolution, Councilmember Shields: On The Death of Dale Eldred

Persondata
NAME	Eldred, Dale
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH	1933
PLACE OF BIRTH	Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America
DATE OF DEATH	1993
PLACE OF DEATH	Kansas City, Missouri