Recent arts coverage:
- Evolutionary biology. Aesthetic determinism. Live action role playing. The Rude Mechs are making a new play again
- Suburban battlefield: Women fight invisible foe in Amie Siegel’s ‘Black Moon’
- In eerie paintings by Ana Fernandez, a house isn’t just a house
More arts coverage | Follow this blog on Twitter @artsinaustin | Read recent arts reviews
Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2011 > September > 22 > Entry
Teresita Fernandez — Blanton ‘Stacked Waters’ creator — named to U.S. Commission of Fine Arts
Artist Teresita Fernandez — the creator of the site-specific ‘Stacked Waters’ installation that greets visitors to the Blanton Museum of Art — has been appointed by President Barack Obama to United Commission of Fine Arts, the White House announced recently.
Fernandez will be one of seven commission members, serving a four-year term. Commission members advise by approving the site and design of national memorials and museums; advise the U.S. Mint on the design of coins and medals and administer the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs program.
A recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant,” Fernandez was commissioned by Austin philanthropists Jeanne and Michael Klein in 2009 to create the massive piece in the Blanton’s towering two-story lobby atrium. Consisting of 3,100-square-feet of custom-cast acrylic tiles, “Stacked Waters” shifts from deep blue hues to lighter, whiter shades as the tile creeps up the atrium walls.
The title “Stacked Waters” is a nod to Donald Judd’s stack pieces and his exploration of box interiors, Fernandez said when she supervised the installation in early 2009.
“I wanted it to be like a portrait of the day and the changing light,” said Fernandez. “I want it to immerse the viewer. Instead of giving visitors an object to look at, I wanted to give them an experience.”
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.