The Gifts of Art and an Artist

Tuesday night, June 3, Winston-Salem's newest work of public art was unveiled to an audience of friends and supporters of Senior Services, the area's leading provider of assistance and programming for the elderly. The trustees of the agency tapped local sculptor Duncan Lewis to create a unique work honoring the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Tab Williams, Jr. and Family, whose philanthropy and leadership have made the Senior Services Center facility at the corner of Shorefair Drive and 30th Street a reality. Titled "Second Blooming," and placed invitingly before the building's entrance walkway, the upwardly reaching blossoms of this twenty-foot high piece open themselves "to the spirit of compassion that lies at the heart of the mission of Senior Services."

The agency and Director Richard Gottlieb could have properly honored its benefactors with a plaque or designation in the interior of its space, or certainly in a less symbolic fashion. Instead, with this piece they have created a new community gift themselves, making a welcoming space accessible to the general public that shares in the feelings of renewal and hope this wonderful place is host to every day.

Duncan Lewis' skill as sculptor can also be found inspiring and iconographicly reflecting the work at another Winston-Salem institution: downtown's Piedmont Triad Research Park. He has proven a unique set of talents - artistic vision, community listener, craftsman's touch - common to all who successfully create public art. Our community thanks go for the art and the artist, and the benefactors who made the project happen. Duncan's dad took the shot of the piece being hoisted by crane into place, and Duncan provided the photo above in situ. The photo below of "Triple Helix" at PTRP is by Greg Kiser from AOL Journals Photo Trek blog.