Durham may get Plensa sculpture: The Performing Arts Center is offered a work by the artist that Raleigh turned down

DURHAM, Oct 23, 2008 (The News & Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- DPAC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A proposed public sculpture outside the new Durham Performing Arts Center may serve as a high-profile marquee for the city's growing arts scene.

The Capitol Broadcasting Co., under President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Goodmon, has offered to commission an illuminated sculpture by renowned Spanish artist Jaume Plensa and donate it to the center.

The sculpture, named "Bridge to the Sky," would be a coup for the city, as well as a reminder to Raleigh arts fans of their lost opportunity. Raleigh rejected a Plensa public sculpture project Goodmon proposed for the refurbished Fayetteville Street two years ago.

Bringing Plensa to Durham would raise the city's profile on the national arts map, said Larry Wheeler, director of the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh. Plensa had a temporary installation at Duke University in 2006 -- a glowing, Buddha-like figure. And Wheeler's museum will unveil three Plensa sculptures in the lobby of its new building when it opens next year; the trio were also a gift from Goodmon, whom Wheeler introduced to Plensa.

"Anytime you have a Plensa sculpture permanently, it means a lot from an international perspective because he's getting such positive play all over the world at this point," Wheeler said Wednesday. "He's a leading international artist, and to have his work in our region is terrific."

The Durham City Council is expected to consider the offer today. The administration has recommended accepting the donation.

Mayor Bill Bell said the sculpture could be "another jewel on the crown" for Durham's art community, citing DPAC, the nearby American Tobacco Campus and Somerhill Gallery's relocation to Durham from Chapel Hill as recent developments. DPAC, a 2,800-seat indoor theater, is scheduled to open Nov. 30.

"We've done quite a bit with our downtown redevelopment to make it a place that is interesting and attractive for people living and working and visiting here," Bell said. "The arts are a big part of that."

Like the Raleigh project, the proposed Durham sculpture involves light beamed skyward. It would also feature text, albeit a puzzling choice: an excerpt from Shakespeare's "Macbeth." After Macbeth murders King Duncan in his sleep, he is plagued with guilt, and he tells co-conspirator Lady Macbeth that he heard accusatory voices saying he would sleep no more.

The raised text would be on a bronze disc 13 feet in diameter, spiraling from the center outward. The light beam would emerge from a 7,000-watt bulb at its center.

Wheeler suggested that the text, with its "sleep no more" refrain, could be interpreted as a prophesy of a more hopping nightlife in Durham.

Plensa was unreachable Wednesday, and his representatives did not immediately respond to questions about the proposal.

Capitol Broadcasting would pay for the creation and installation of the sculpture. The performing arts center would be responsible for the annual utility bills to power the bulb, and the city would pay for maintenance, repairs and periodic bulb replacement.

City officials estimate the annual utility cost to be $3,350, and the city's annual maintenance, $4,415.

The proposed agreement would include a 25-year commitment by the city to maintain the piece.

J.L. Singleton, founder of Professional Facilities Management, which will operate DPAC with the New York-based Nederlander Organization, said he's hopeful that Durham can have a cultural renaissance much like his home city of Providence, R.I., has in the last decade.

"It's a manageable milieu," he said of Durham. "It's not like you're trying to do Boston or Chicago. You're doing an area where there's connectivity. You can make things happen."

He said DPAC would illuminate the sculpture on performance nights -- DPAC's way of saying, "It's showtime."

Plensa's public art installations have found homes in Chicago, Paris, London and other cities. His work has been included in the collections of more than 65 museums worldwide, including the N.C. Museum of Art and Duke University's Nasher Museum of Art.

Locally, Goodmon is one of the most prominent supporters of his work. Two years ago, Goodmon offered to donate a $2.5 million sculpture plaza by Plensa for Raleigh's Fayetteville Street, which was in the process of being converted from a pedestrian mall back into a street.

The Raleigh sculpture project was derailed in September 2006 after some city officials objected; critics said it was impractical and would block the historic view down Fayetteville Street.

dave.hart@newsobserver.com or 919-932-8744

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