Public Art

Suwanee SculpTour

Suwanee's walkable public art encounter, SculpTour brings a variety of sculptures to downtown Suwanee on a rotating basis. The 2013 Suwanee SculpTour includes 15 pieces, which will be on display through March 2015.

‘Watercolor in the sky’

Shimmering Echoes, a suspended sculpture by Koryn Rolstad, was installed at City Hall in February 2010.

Shimmering Echoes, the suspended sculpture installed in the lobby of City Hall, was created by Seattle-based artist Koryn Rolstad, who has designed environmental public art for a multitude of locations around the world. Mounted in two areas, Suwanee’s cascading sculpture includes 12 groupings suspended from railroad-inspired aluminum track frames; 1,900 elliptical-shaped eco-resin elements in shades from translucent white and rose tones to yellow, green, and aqua as well as a reflective holographic radiant; and about a mile of 1/32-inch stainless steel cable – all held together with some 4,000 clips and another 4,000 washers. Altogether, the sculpture weighs in at 240 pounds (120 pounds per grouping).

Rolstad describes Shimmering Echoes as “a watercolor in the sky.” The piece was installed in February 2010 and publicly dedicated the following month.

The City of Suwanee is committed to enhancing the community’s quality of life and sense of place through public art initiatives. Over time, the City will add to its permanent public art collection, which currently includes several pieces that also are included on the Suwanee SculpTour:

Shimmering Echoes by Koryn Rolstad, which is suspended in the City Hall lobby and described above.
The Commemorative Obelisk was installed in celebration of the dedication of Town Center Park in December 2003.
Song of the South, a mural on the back of the Town Center amphitheater stage, was created in 2006 by Sonny Franks and more than 140 other sign artists from across the United States, Canada, England, Germany, and Scotland. The scene depicts musicians playing for an audience that includes members of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
Two of the four painted fiberglass cows at PlayTown Suwanee can trace their roots to the 2003 Atlanta CowParade: Chattamoochee by Shannon Brickey was purchased for the City by the Suwanee Day Planning Committee and Matilda was donated by Monika Ruiz. Two additional cows, Dottie by LaTrecia Raffety and Blue Bell by Anita Stewart, were part of a 2006 community fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina-stricken Long Beach, Mississippi.
Three mosaic park benches at PlayTown Suwanee were created in 2011 as part of a community service project by eighth-graders at North Gwinnett Middle School.

Art: It's not just for walls anymore

The mural on the back of the Town Center stage was created in fall 2006 by international sign artists who gathered in Suwanee for a Letterhead Meet.

The Public Arts Commission is working to make life in Suwanee just a bit more colorful, a bit more, well, artful. The City Council-appointed Public Arts Commission was established to work with and encourage developers to include public art or support public art as a component of new projects and to create programs that bring and promote public art in Suwanee.

Among the duties of the Public Arts Commission are:

coordinating the developer component of Suwanee's public arts initiative
developing and coordinating the Suwanee SculpTour program
developing a Citywide public art master plan
recommending public artwork pieces on behalf of the City of Suwanee
acquiring art using public art funds.

Public Arts Commission members are:

Dick Goodman
Cherie Heringer
Vickie Johnson
Linnea Miller
Earl Mitchell
John Peed

For more information about the Public Arts Commission, contact Denise Brinson or Toni Shrewsbury.