Roswell Residents Meet $10,000 'Keep The Art' Challenge

ROSWELL, GA -- The Roswell Arts Fund has announced the purchase of its first work from the 2017 ArtAround Roswell sculpture tour. Sentience by Atlanta-based artist David Landis will remain a permanent work-of-art in the Heart of Roswell Park on Canton Street.

This purchase was made possible by a challenge grant created by the Roswell Downtown Development Authority and the success of the organization's Keep the Art! campaign which included the PartyAround Roswell gala event and donations from the local Roswell community.

The Roswell DDA agreed to match $10,000 raised by the community to keep the art in the city.

"Sentience has activated the Heart of Roswell Park which I see as a focal point of our community,” said Randy Schultz, Roswell DDA board chair. “It has created a more dynamic environment where parents and their children are playing and engaging in the space that before had very little activity. Sentience encapsulates the charm and natural beauty of our city, and its truly an icon of our community and its future."

Landis designs his work not only as a destination piece, but also to blend seamlessly with the park design, landscape, streetscape and community. He chose the title Sentience for this piece because it means “to feel.”

“My aim was to have the viewer experience some emotional reaction when encountering the piece,” he saidl "As with all public art, the artist can only hope that the work will help to define and create a sense of place. I’m truly honored to have a piece in such a welcoming community.”

According to the report, Leveraging Public Investment in the Arts, by Georgia Council for the Arts, “the arts continue to improve local economies through strategies that promote tourism, downtown development, entrepreneurism, community identity, and quality of life.”

Through its Keep the Art! fundraising campaign, Roswell Arts Fund seeks donations from individuals, businesses, and organizations to keep ArtAround Roswell sculptures in the city permanently. This will enable Roswell to further expand its identity an arts destination for locals and tourists alike.

Roswell Art Fund’s goal is to raise at least $60,000 to add selected sculptures to the city’s permanent collection of public art. Sentience is one of 10 sculptures featured in the 2017 ArtAround Roswell sculpture tour, and it joins two other permanent pieces purchased from the 2106 ArtAround Roswell tour: Smoke in Roswell Town Square and Oak Leaf Triptych in Roswell Area Park.

“We hope to ignite further awareness and interest of the arts by raising funds to keep four sculptures from this year’s tour in our city,” said Rochelle Mucha, Roswell Arts Fund chair. “We are lucky to live in such a vibrant community, and we thank you for your generosity.”

For more information about the Keep the Art! campaign or to make a contribution to keep additional works of art from this year’s tour in our city, please visit our website at artaroundroswell.org.

Photo 1: Randy Schultz and Dave Schmit from Roswell Downtown Development Association donate $10,000 to Roswell Arts Fund, received by Board Members Marie Willsey and Rochelle Mucha.

Photo 2: From left to right are: Lawrence Catchpole, Roswell Arts Fund;, Dave Schmit and Randy Schultz, Roswell DDA; Marie Willsey and Rochelle Mucha, Roswell Arts Fund.

Photo credits: Roswell Arts Fund