FSDB to display colorful sculpture

working on installation By KAREN HARVEY, Compass Editor

Students returning to the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind after spring break will be surprised to find colorful new art work in the atrium of the Special Needs Building. Bright pink, salmon, and gray arches appear to grow upward, pushing their way outward beyond the building's walls.

Artist Geoffrey Lardiere and his assistant Bill Selman arrived Monday to begin the difficult task of assembling the huge pieces, the largest of which extends 32 feet and reaches 25 feet into the air.

We've been working day and night, " Lardiere said as they struggled to finish assembling the massive pieces before the students return.

Lardiere explained that he and Selman received a contract from the state as part of the Art in Public Places program. He began designing the colorful free-standing sculpture a year ago and Selman, who handles the technical and engineering aspects, began fabricating the piece six months ago. The two work together from a Tallahassee studio.

The original design was far more elaborate than the final piece, Lardiere explained. He was asked to simplify the design for safety reasons and although he was upset at first, now, he said, "It's working out really well."

The artist designed the artwork with the handicapped children in mind. He wanted the pieces "growing up, out of the space and pushing out." He wanted it to represent the fact there are "no limits" for the children. But, he noted, also, that the three pieces come together and are unified "like a family." He sees the three different sizes as representing father, mother, and child.

He said that this project, in a school that teaches sightless children, was very special to him. Two years ago his 10 year old daughter, Gia, died in heart surgery. He and his wife agreed to allow her corneas to be donated so someone else might see.

Lardiere describes himself as a painter first and considers this work a "painted sculpture." When asked about the colors he said he stopped labeling colors long ago and described them only as a pale pink, a hot pink, and a gray.

He noted that the pieces can be seen through the window from the road going to the Vilano Bridge and "look really wonderful at night."

Selman, a glassblower by trade, has worked hand-in-hand with Lardiere before. "We work in collaboration," he explained, noting that once Lardiere finishes a design the "ball is shifted to my court." He then finishes his engineering and fabrication and returns the work to Lardiere.

This is the third state project Lardiere has been contracted to complete. The other two are at the Florida A & M School of Architecture and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The art work is the second to be placed in the new building under the state art program. In October a wall sculpture was installed by St. Augustine artist Enzo Torcoletti. A third piece, by Jim Piercey of Orlando, is on exhibit in the music building.

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