Artist
Donna L. Dobberfuhl, the artist selected for the East
Rosedale Public Art Project, likes to incorporate historical significance to
her artworks.
She wondered what the meaning is behind the name Rosedale.
Was it a family name? Was the street named for a woman called Rose?
Although no definitive answer emerged, the quest for discovery led
Dobberfuhl to a “botanicals” theme, which was the basis for her design approach
for a sculpture to be placed in a roundabout at Rosedale and Mitchell.
She developed several concepts and narrowed to two – The Stamen and The Spire, 34’ and 30’ tall sculptures made of carved brick, mosaic
and stainless steel components. Both ideas incorporate botanical elements.
After a thoughtful review of the designs, the committee chose The Stamen.
Either would be constructed with a 6” interior steel column
surrounded by the brick base. “The weight of these towers starts at 22,000
pounds,” Dobberfuhl said.
To produce art of this magnitude, she works with a brick mason and
an engineer. She carves the brick while it is still wet and has to calculate for
shrinkage, which is generally 3 to 5 percent, but can be as much as 10 percent,
depending on the specific type.
The Next Steps
According to Anne Allen, FWPA project manager, a final rendering
of the artwork was approved by the Fort Worth Art Commission. Now the artist is
creating a three-dimensional model.
The sculpture installation is slated for fall 2014, when the East
Rosedale Street improvements are finished.
About the Artist
A studio
sculptor based in San Antonio, Dobberfuhlworks in a linear fashion, preferring to create one project at a time,
even though she sometimes works on as many as three at once. For largescale brick
projects such as the Rosedale sculpture, she carves in a studio in Nebraska.
Her
public art includes a wide array of subjects: veterans, wildlife, and religious
figures.
Dobberfuhl’s
sculpture installations appear across the country, from Bellingham, Wash., to
Biscayne, Fla., to New York City. Her work can be found throughout North Texas,
including the Veterans Monument in
North Richland Hills and the Fabric of
Frisco.
She
has a Master of Fine Arts from the Graduate School of Figurative Art of the New
York Academy of Art and is a member of the National Sculpture Society and the
Association of Consultants for Liturgical Space.
