In recent years, public and private funding has provided a significant body of outdoor sculpture Installed in places which are part of our everyday life. National, state, and local legislation, the benevolent influence of the National Endowment for the Arts, state and municipal art commissions, and the growing recognition of public responsibility by private corporations make it almost certain that this process will continue. In the Northwest, special attention should be called to the City of Seattle's one-percent-for-art legislation, which is recognized as the broadest and most flexible legislation of its kind in the nation, providing a standard against which we may measure ourselves in other communities.

The general enthusiasm for the increasing role of art in our daily lives and the potential of sculpture for humanizing our sometimes impoverished urban landscape has not always produced the hoped for results in the actual selection and siting of pieces. We are just beginning to understand the various relationships between art and public life in our contemporary society. The need to strive for the very highest quality is matched by the need to recognize the diverse publics being served and the social as well as visual diversity of sites.

What are the most appropriate ways for public art to be funded? What types of sites and installations contribute most to our visual environment? How can the best art be selected or commissioned? In what cases should preference be given to local artists? What should be the working relationship between commissioning organization, artist, architect, landscape architect and other members of the community? Such questions can best be answered not in the abstract but by careful examination of public sculpture in real life situations. This exhibition and accompanying guide are meant to call attention to the major role of Lee Kelly In the public art of the Northwest and by so doing to provide an opportunity for thoughtful consideration of these issues which are now receiving national attention.

Lee Kelly has produced more major outdoor pieces permanently installed in public places in the Northwest than any other sculptor. These fourteen outdoor pieces, though scattered from Seattle to Salem, are meant to be thought of as part of the larger exhibition, of which only a portion is installed on the Reed campus. On display in the gallery are photographic blowups of each of the fourteen sculptures as well as preparatory models and original drawings. Finally, installed on the front lawns of the Reed campus during the show are five major outdoor pieces completed by Kelly during the past year, some of which may find their way eventually into more permanent public locations.

1/2 Charles Rhyne, "Lee Kelly: Outdoor Sculpture for the Public"
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