Innovation: George Rickey Kinetic Sculpture

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George Rickey, Two Planes Vertical
Horizontal IV (Gyratory)
1974; stainless steel

Get ready for Innovation: This year, South Bend will celebrate the life and work of internationally renowned artist George Rickey in a collaboration unlike anything the city has ever seen.

A native of South Bend, Rickey was the son of a mechanical engineer who worked for Singer Sewing Machine. His unique kinetic sculptures—work that combines art and engineering into what one critic describes as “a playground for the eyes”—are known throughout the world for their graceful, natural movement and sleek, stainless steel beauty.

In Innovation: George Rickey Kinetic Sculpture, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, Notre Dame’s Snite Museum of Art, South Bend Museum of Art, 1st Source Bank, and the George Rickey Foundation and the Estate of George Rickey have joined forces to bring a rich range of Rickey-related resources to our community during 2009 and 2010:

  • Public Art: Creating an easy-to-walk “Rickey Trail” through the heart of the business district, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County will place five large-scale Rickey sculptures in downtown South Bend for a year, beginning September 26, 2009.
  • Garden-Scale Sculptures and Major Indoor Exhibit: The South Bend Museum of Art is mounting an indoor and outdoor exhibition of his life's work, including garden sculpture, small pedestal sculptures and maquettes, pastel drawings of flowers, painted portraits, and preliminary sketches of large scale sculpture. This specific exhibition, entitled George Rickey: Arc of Development, is on display in the Warner Gallery at the SBMA and on the grounds of Century Center (downtown South Bend, Indiana) from September 26, 2009 through January 10, 2010. Garden sculpture located on the grounds outdoors will be installed through March 2010. 

    Mounted in cooperation with the George Rickey Estate and Foundation, this assemblage of work investigates the breadth of Rickey's artistic development and engineering acumen, from traditional painter of still life's, portraits and public murals, through his mature artistic vision as a kinetic sculptor, to completing his life fill-circle with a series of flower drawings created during the last year of his life in 2002.  For the first time ever, this comprehensive survey explores his life's work, with a focus on the poetry of kinetics driven by wind and air.  A true Renaissance man and the recipient of 10 honorary doctorate degrees, Rickey built a stellar career as an artist, author, and professor of art in the U.S. and abroad.

    This portion of Innovation is sponsored by 1st Source Bank, AM General, Indiana Michigan Power, Teachers Credit Union and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust Foundation, Alick’s Home Medical, The Inn at Saint Marys, Palmer Funeral Homes, Progress Club of South Bend, South Bend Art Center Foundation,  Northern Indiana Artists and numerous individual donors.
  • Symposium, Permanent Exhibit, Archives, and Catalog: The promised home of the George Rickey Sculpture Archive, Notre Dame’s Snite Museum of Art has a special relationship with the artist and his work. On September 25 and 26, 2009, Notre Dame’s Snite Museum of Art, the Department of American Studies, and the Department of Art, Art History and Design will convene a range of scholars in a symposium about George Rickey and public sculpture. 13 Rickey sculptures will be on exhibit at the Snite, and the museum will publish a catalog of all Rickey sculptures in its collection in September 2009.
  • Educational Outreach: Rickey’s work is an excellent opportunity to highlight the importance of cross-disciplinary education. A team of local college and university faculty with expertise in physics, mathematics, industrial design, and other sciences will be working with local middle school and high school teachers this summer to help develop a variety of age-appropriate teaching tools related to Innovation, and the museums will incorporate the sculptures into their existing outreach programs.

In addition to native son George Rickey, South Bend has a heritage of innovation as a community that knows how to make things. To read more, visit web sites for Indiana's first dual-site state-certified technology park, Innovation Park at Notre Dame and Ignition Park.