ECHO is a science center and the public face of the Patrick and Marcelle Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, a 2.7 acre environmental campus on the Burlington Waterfront. ECHO’s aquarium and other displays teach people about life in the Champlain Basin. This summer, ECHO is adding public art installations to its roster of things to see and do.
Bait Ball by Tyler Vendituoli
You may have seen Tyler Vendituoli’s work around Burlington before. His Puff Balls have been hanging around the Soda Plant; at the 2013 South End Art Hop, he debuted a 3,000-pound rhinoceros made of old farm equipment; or, in 2015, when he unleashed a 16-foot giraffe named Carol onto Pine Street.
“I like making life-size sculpture that is gestural, with a hint of humor and authentically raw. Honest and unapologetic,” said Vendituoli, “typically made from found or recycled materials.”
Bait Ball is sphere of metal cut into fish shapes. “The final product is simply incredible–metal fish, appearing to continuously move in a swarm,” writes ECHO’s Jessie Forand. “Cutouts and attachments create depth and a kind of positive and negative view. The size of the sculpture draws in passersby.”
Box of Courage by Robert Hitzig
Rob Hitzig explains Box of Courage as “an interactive work of art designed to engage the public. The title refers to the effect boxes have on us. The act of climbing in boxes give us a feeling of safety which, in turn, gives us courage. Additionally, though children are uninhibitedly drawn to boxes, and climb in without hesitation, adults tend to repress the urge. As a result, the title also refers to the courage it takes to let that uninhibited child within all of us express itself. Theoretically, that courage would then become self-reinforcing, generating more strength, safety, and security by being inside the box. Consequently, the work is not complete without human interaction. The art isn’t just the box, rather, it is the box with courageous people of all ages inside, popping their heads out of the holes, and having uninhibited childlike fun. ”
The public art will be on view at ECHO through October 2016.
INFORMATION
ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
1 College Street
Burlington 05401
(802) 864-1848
Hours:
Daily, 10AM-5PM