Downtown Racine's 'Hour Town' Clock winners announced

Downtown Racine Corporation has announced the top three award winning clocks and their artists who will win cash prizes in the Hour Town 2010 public art event. The winners are:

Fish In' Time by Robert Anderson

First Place (winning $2,000) – FISH IN’ TIME
Artist: Robert Andersen
Sponsor: Corporate Images, Inc.

Fish In’ Time, which is on display at 417 6th Street, was developed as a relief and supplemented with found (natural) objects to create an underwater effect. The painting enhanced that effect, bringing to the viewer an underwater perspective.

Loonatick by Bill Reid

Second Place (winning $1,000) – LOONATICK
Artist: Bill Reid
Sponsor: Gene Johnson

Loonatick is on display at 324 Main Street and features a whimsical steel painted bird (loon) along with an assortment of bugs.

Undersea Portal by Kristin Gjerdset

 Third Place (winning $500) – UNDERSEA PORTAL
Artist: Kristin Gjerdset
Sponsor: Johnson Bank

Undersea Portal, which is on display at 555 Main Street, was inspired by kaleidoscopes and the unique shapes and patterns they create.

“While we believe all of the clocks are timed treasures, they were recently judged in pursuit of the top three winning clock artists,” said Terry Leopold, Special Events Coordinator at the Downtown Racine Corporation. Judging all of the 60 clocks were Kevin Pearson and Doug DeVinny.

Pearson is an art educator and chair of the art department at The Prairie School in Racine. As an artist, he works in clay and blown glass. His works are on display in art galleries and art fairs throughout the Midwest. He stated that he was impressed with the high quality and creative ideas from the artists. “With their broad range of ideas, it was interesting how each artist decided to portray the ‘hours’,” he said.

DeVinny is Professor Emeritus, Department of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. With degrees in painting and printmaking, he has been exhibiting throughout the United States since 1970. He looked at the context, craft and presentation of each clock as he made his judging decisions.

The award-winning clocks are among the 60 art pieces now on display in Downtown Racine. They will be on exhibit through Labor Day.

As summer comes to an end, it is time to "wind-up" the 2010 Hour Town public art project with Clocks On the Auction Block. The clocks will be auctioned to the highest bidders at a public auction which will be held on Saturday, September 11 at Monument Square in Downtown Racine. The clocks will be on display at Monument Square beginning at 12 Noon with the voice auction beginning at 1 p.m. The silent auction will follow the voice auction and will begin at approximately 2 p.m.

Food and refreshments will be available for sale throughout the day. Entertainment will be provided by Mean Jake. Admission to the auction is free of charge and is open to the public. In the event of inclement weather, the auction will be held at the Women’s Club, 740 Lake Avenue.

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