The work proposals for the invited competition for the percentage art project, organized in connection with the renovation of the sports center, seriously challenged each other.

Comfort and environmental values ​​are strongly included in the renovation of the sports center

In connection with the ongoing renovation of the Kankaanpää City Sports Center, designed by architects Kaija and Heikki Siren, there was a desire to draw attention to the pleasant surroundings of the sports center. The idea was born to enliven the park area next to the sports center using environmental art. The overarching idea is to inspire more and more city residents to get involved in physical activity through a pleasant environment.

In June 2018, the Arts Promotion Centre of Finland (Taike) awarded the City of Kankaanpää a grant of €30.000 for the implementation of an art project, with the total project costs totaling approximately €100.000. The work will be completed in autumn 2019.

Four proposals, four different perspectives on environmental art

It was decided to invite four nationally and internationally distinguished environmental artists to the competition. The artists of the anonymously juried submissions are Antti Laitinen: “Building Block”, Jaakko Niemelä: “Bird Restaurant”, nabbteeri l. Maria Teeri and Janne Nabb: “Alchemilla Mollis” and Kirsi Kaulanen: “Little Apollo”. The artist/artist group that submitted each submission will be awarded a €2.500 design fee.

The chairwoman of the competition's jury, Maija Anttila, TkT, sums up the jury's common view: "The invitational competition was a success. The competition produced carefully prepared, high-quality and diverse proposals that approached the given task, representing a wide range of different concepts of public art. We received proposals that were different from each other, taking a stand on current themes. Almost all of the proposals had participatory and process-like elements. The proposals also vary in how they take into account the architecture of the sports center or the future entrance plaza, or how the work is visible from inside the sports center or when approaching from the city center."

In addition to Maija Anttila, the award committee included Keijo Kerola, chairman of the sports center construction committee, Kati Vainio, museum director, Marja Vaajasaari, city gardener Ilpo Möttönen, and from Kankaanpää Art School, SAMK/visual arts lecturer, team leader Matti Velhonoja, and lecturer, sculptor Heli Ryhänen.

"Little Apollo" – thoughts about endangered nature, images of splashes and water movements

The winning work of the competition was unanimously chosen at the jury meeting held on 19.2 February by the sculptor Kirsi Kaulanen's work proposal "Little Apollo". The award committee recommends ordering the work from the winning proposal. The decision on the purchase of the work will be made by the Kankaanpää City Sports Center Construction Committee.

Sculptor Kirsi Kaulanen lives and works in Porvoo. She has studied at, among others, Kankaanpää Art School (1989–1993) and the University of Art and Design, where she graduated with a Master of Arts in 2004. As an artist, Kirsi Kaulanen is particularly known for her works cut from stainless steel, often with endangered plants as their theme. Kaulanen is one of our most distinguished contemporary sculptors and her works are in several significant museum collections and public spaces, including the Gaia piece in the Helsinki Music Centre from 2011.

“Little Apollo” forms a gate-like shape, over four meters high, made of insect- and plant-themed steel and aluminum parts that can be seen both when approaching the sports center and from inside the sports center. The artist has combined references to endangered species into the shapes of the work; the shapes of the Little Apollo butterfly, a plant native to Satakunta, and the roots of a plant called Suolapunka. The dynamic work creates images of splashes and water movements.

The rich formal language of the work was seen by the award jury as creating an interesting dialogue with the modernist red brick architecture of Siren. “Little Apollo” also perfectly complements the Kankaanpää Art Circle. The work offers a perspective on man’s relationship with nature and endangered species, both of which are part of the central theme of contemporary art at the time.

The submitted works were on display in the display cases in the lobby of Kankaanpääsali from March 8.3 to March 17.3.2019, XNUMX.

For more information:

Maija Anttila, chairman of the award committee

Architect, TkT, tel. 045 854 6161, [email protected]

Kati Vainio

Museum Director, tel. 044 577 2738, [email protected]

Kirsi Kaulanen

sculptor, tel. 050 330 8796, [email protected]

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Attachments:

Sports center percentage art acquisition evaluation report 19.02.2019

Sports center art competition program

Site plan of the planning area