Internationally
known sculptor, Bruce Beasley of West Oakland, is an immensely
practical man. At age 75 and in fine health, he has made the unusual
plan to bequeath his two-block cluster of studios and sculpture gardens
-- plus many of his own massive abstract works, personal archives of his
illustrious career and an endowment for future sculpture-related events
and programs -- to the Oakland Museum of California.
The gift, said to be unprecedented by a living artist, is valued
at about $20 million, making it the largest single private gift in the
museum's 45-year history. Beasley and museum officials will reveal
details of the plan on Thursday morning during a reception at the
artist's Lewis Street studios -- someday to be called the Bruce Beasley
Sculpture Center -- situated in an off-the-radar neighborhood tucked in
the shadow of Oakland's main U.S. Post Office.
"I've never heard of a major artist in his lifetime making a gift
like this, not only of his art, but property and financial support for
future programs," Lori Fogarty, OMCA's executive director, said in a
phone interview.
Making a point about his generosity, she noted that while some of
his work will be exhibited there, "it's not just all about him."
"It's about the field of sculpture," she said. "And it's
incredibly generous of his family as well. They clearly understand what
he wants, his vision for the future."
Rare gift
Beasley says the relationship with the Oakland museum is a
"logical marriage," considering his deep ties to Oakland where he's
lived, worked as a community activist, and created massive sculptures
since bursting into the art world in 1962 at the height of the abstract
sculpture movement.
"I've had the great honor and privilege to spend my whole life
doing what I love, making sculpture," a modest Beasley said last Friday,
leading a private tour of the four buildings and expansive gardens
involved in the bequest. In one cavernous warehouse, the trim, tall
artist was dwarfed by one of his "Rondo" pieces, a 22-foot high
sculpture of stainless-steel links -- like giant metal hula hoops --
destined for a city park in Fremont next spring.
"I wanted to do
something to give back to the field and help young sculptors get
started," Beasley said. "Sculpture is the most difficult of all the
visual arts for a variety of reasons." Sculptors need larger studios and
materials are more expensive than for most other artists. Also, the
work is hard on the body, pieces are hard to transport, difficult to
show and sculptors require more exhibition space.
"Being a sculptor," he says, "truly takes the strongest calling."
His
vision is specific in its intent -- the bequest requires the center be
strictly dedicated to sculpture, and Beasley hopes it will serve as a
resource for local and international artists. But other details will be
left up to museum officials for things like community programs,
exhibition space, classes and talks by visiting scholars.
West Oakland-based sculptor Bruce Beasley poses for a photo with one of
his Stainless steal ringed sculptures in the future Bruce Beasley
Sculpture Center in West Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 3, 2014.
Beasley is bequeathing his two-block studio and garden space, a legacy
gift, to the Oakland Museum of California. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News
Group)
(
Laura A. Oda
)
And the timing of this ultimate gift is certainly
not set in stone, as it rests on the advent of Beasley's death, which
may be a long time coming.
"You've seen how healthy he is -- when
this actually transpires, I hope to be long retired by then," Fogarty
joked. In the meantime, some prototype studio tours and community events
may begin as early as 2015.
Making plans
Many of Beasley's
sculptures in museums and public spaces around the globe -- the cast
bronze "Foray III is on the second level of OMCA's sculpture gardens --
involve strong geometric shapes, playing with a sense of
balance/imbalance, "that edge where it feels just a little precarious,"
he said. Though he hopes always to evoke an emotional response, Beasley
is known for his analytical and even technological approach -- he long
ago began computer modeling his designs, and now is excited to
incorporate the latest in 3D printing techniques to produce more precise
forms for bronze casting. An upper room in one of the buildings on the
property -- the oldest structure on the site, built in 1912 as a grist
mill -- is filled with computer screens and a commercial-sized 3D
printer.
Even so, he doesn't employ technological advances because
they're "the latest thing," he says, but rather as a means to an end,
to solve production problems and create the pristine curves, twists and
turns that wouldn't be possible with traditional methods.
He took the same analytical approach to planning the bequest.
"About
20 years ago, I started asking other sculptors about estate issues,
what they planned to do with their work," he said, continuing the tour
past a set of coiled granite shapes that just returned from a traveling
exhibit in China. "(The sculptors) all said they had no plans, and they
would just leave it to their spouses and that was about it," he said.
"That seemed irresponsible to me, a burden on families, so I felt I
wanted to solve that problem."
About a year ago, he began delving
into estate law and researching various options, rejecting the idea of a
private institution and finally opting for a union with OMCA, trusting
officials there with the studios and garden compound he has developed
for more than 50 years, and where he and his wife, Laurence, raised
their son and daughter. Their private home will not be part of the
bequest, however.
"It took a lot of confronting the reality of
death and the ending of things and all to plan out the bequest. But I'm
totally realistic about this -- I'm 75, and 75 is not the new 50," he
said, chuckling. "This isn't half way. There is an upper limit."
By Angela Hill
Oakland Tribune fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_26688898/sculptor-bruce-beasley-bequeaths-west-oakland-studio-complex
Contact Angela Hill at ahill@bayareanewsgroup.com, or follow her on Twitter @GiveEmHill.