Stuart Price, local developer and owner of Price Family Properties, announced today that he will be donating a sculpture by Harry Bertoia that has graced downtown for over half a century to the Tulsa City-County Library.
The piece, once an operating fountain, will be put in the custody and care of the Tulsa City-County Library in order to make way for a recently announced parking structure in downtown. Talks regarding the donation have been going on for months.
“We are very excited to be able to make this announcement today,” said Price.
The Bertoia sculpture has had two homes in Tulsa over the years. First installed in
1959, it was located at the entrance to the First National Auto Bank, 620 S Cincinnati Ave., and now home to the Vault Restaurant. Later, it was moved to a sunken plaza, adjacent to First Place Tower. It was recently announced that the City of Tulsa has issued a permit to build a five-story parking facility at this location.
“It’s the coolest piece of art that nobody knows about in Tulsa,” once quipped Rex
Brown, a Tulsan and modern design enthusiast, who also serves as a trustee for the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture (TFA).
“We are happy to work with the TFA, and their Tulsa Modern division on this grandeurs piece of art with such a historic past in our city,” said Library CEO Kimberly Johnson. The Tulsa City-County Library plans to keep the sculpture at home in downtown Tulsa by placing it at the Library’s Central Library branch at 5th and Denver. The sculpture has been exposed to the elements for more than 55 years. Thus a fair amount of restoration must be completed before it can ultimately be placed. Bertoia, who died in 1978, studied design with fellow students Florence Knoll, Ray Eames and Charles Eames. In addition to sculpture, he also designed furniture and jewelry. His works are featured prominently in libraries in Omaha and Dallas, as well as in museums and civic locations across the United States.
###