Soccer, art synonymous at Avery Park
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By Andrea Kjerrumgaard/ThisWeek
Jane Ritchey takes her daily walk around Avery Park past one of the soccer ball sculptures Tuesday, June 30.
Editor's note: The second in an eight-part series on public art in Dublin.
Soccer isn't the only sport played at Avery Park, but Dublin's second art in public places project would seem to show otherwise.
"Out of Bounds," dedicated in 1992, consists of seven 10-foot high soccer balls scattered around Avery Park's soccer, baseball and multiuse fields.
The $70,000 project was commissioned by the Dublin Arts Council and funded with bed tax money.
Los Angeles artist Lloyd Hamrol created "Out of Bounds" after being chosen by a panel of judges who included Leatherlips artist Ralph Helmick; James Demetrion, director of the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; and Miami University Art Museum director Bonnie Kelm.
Hamrol has created more than a dozen public art projects and has been displayed at the Smithsonian and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
His work in Dublin was scattered around Avery Park's sports fields at random. Janet Cooper, the Dublin Arts Council's marketing and public relations manager, said Hamrol's work was "right on," because it looks like out of bounds soccer balls.
"I think the artist is right on target with this one," she said.
Arts council executive director David Guion said the work reflects the many activities in Avery Park, 7501 Avery Road.
"Of note is the sculpture becomes the park and the park becomes the sculpture," he said. "It's all one entity."
The one drawback has been wear and tear because the artwork is located in such an active area, said parks and open space director Fred Hahn.
"On the original construction, all the framing was made out of thin-walled steel or aluminum," he said. "People were shaking them or just climbing on them. I don't think it was ever intentional vandalism, but they did more than just stare at them. Since it was thin-walled metal they just couldn't take it. The tubular steel was getting destroyed."
"Out of Bounds" no longer includes all of its original parts. The city replaced the frames of the 10-foot soccer balls, but kept the original color panels, Hahn said.
"What we ended up doing was we took the exact same dimensions," he said. "Everything was identical; we just used a much heavier metal on these."
Hahn couldn't recall when the work was done, but said the replacement parts should stand the test of time.
"The rebuild was definitely designed with abuse in mind," he said. "They're in great shape and should be for many years to come."
