Artist Statement

The aesthetics of public art and the function of architecture combine as an integrated whole, humanizing the urban environment and creating an identity of place that informs, enlivens, provokes, entertains, and ultimately speaks to the human spirit. Ken Bernstein Art Studio, Inc. works with architects, landscape architects, and engineers to mold a creative concept into a durable work of art. The Studio is interested in a synergistic design approach that values a work’s context as much as its components. In the design process for Remembrance, The Crime Victim’s Memorial in El Paso, Texas, (under construction) the placement, orientation, and pedestrian flow patterns were all considered in the proposal even though the commission was specific only to the memorial itself. A park design was offered as a contextual concept in which to situate the Memorial, surrounding it with sidewalks arranged in a flow pattern that encouraged the use of the Memorial for processional events, as was desired by the stakeholders. The first presentation not only received a unanimous approval of the Memorial design, it also garnered approval of the park design.

We always design with the surrounding landscape and architecture in mind, as with Passage, a series of five cor-ten steel gateways on the Colorado State University campus in Pueblo that is in dialog with its surroundings and uses solar power for its lighting. This project engaged a steel fabricator, a subcontractor to install footings, an engineer, and a solar lighting designer and installer.

The Vortex Street Bus Stop Plaza project was designed in collaboration with Carter Burgess Landscape Architects and the City Transportation Department for Boulder, CO. An engineer, a construction contractor, and a steel fabricator were engaged in the construction phase and an ongoing dialog between all parties ensured a quality product true to the design intent. This project uses the art as wayfinding devices that direct pedestrians to the bus stops and through the areas with walkways connected to city bike paths. The art is informed by the adjacent creek and adds to the combination of constructed and natural environments. This project and the adjacent Strata Variations designed by Ken Bernstein Art Studio, Inc. and Airworks, Inc. won the Federal Highways Administration’s, Exemplary Human Environment Initiative Award in 2007 as part of the 28th Street Central Corridor Multimodal Improvements Project in Boulder, CO.

Public art is a commitment to ourselves and our community. It is a statement of beauty and truth that says we care about the world that we live in.