A Chair for a Better Community (*Retired)
By Robert Powell
Category: Miscellaneous
About
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Monster chair.
** This piece is no longer on display. Please see our Retired Public Art Installations page for more information.
O’Fallon Park sits in one of the the more devastated areas of the City. Unable to afford replacement of trees, the City Parks Department lets dead ones remain in place to avoid large holes. The artist saw the dead trees in relation to the dead, boarded-up and burned-out spots in his neighborhood and decided to turn a dead oak into a piece of art. He chose a 15 foot tree near the park’s lake and with chainsaw and mallet, transformed it into a chair whose back is a carved figure of a strong, African-American woman.
Dimensions: 6′ H, 3′ W, 3′ D
Material: Oak tree trunk
Owner: City of St. Louis
Donor: Missouri Arts Council
About the artist:
Robert Powell
b. 1945
Robert Powell originally received a B.S. degree in education, and taught for more than a decade in both the Oakland and Kansas City public schools system. In Oakland he focused on industrial art, and devised lessons on three-dimensional sculpture, carving, and creative artworks. In 1989, Powell founded the Portfolio Gallery and Educational Center, where he now serves as executive director. He has since received several prestigious awards honoring his commitment to community service and arts development. They include the Kool Achiever Award (1993), the Missouri Arts Award (1995), the John W. Simon Community Service Award (2001), the Best Citizen Award (2003), and the Excellence in the Arts Award (2009).
