Hunt Valley Native Chase Jackson's Heavy Lifting for Public Art

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One of three public art creations Jackson helped Godfrey install this year

HAMILTON, NY (10/17/2012)(readMedia)-- Colgate University senior Chase Jackson, of Hunt Valley, Md., spent six weeks this summer helping to build and set-up three massive public art installations. He was handpicked for the job by his sculpture professor Dewitt Godfrey, who also happens to be a highly acclaimed international artist.

The work marked Jackson's second summer with Godfrey, this time traveling more than 2,400 miles for 13 days of installations during a withering heat wave. Jackson helped install artwork in Lexington, Ky. at the Downtown Art Center, the Decordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Mass., and at Lehman College in the Bronx, NY.

Jackson, a graduate of Gilman School in Baltimore, said the installation work was a unique experience in which he had to adjust to each location's curatorial staff, rigging crews and everything else that goes along with installing large-scale public art.

"I've been helping out wherever needed, from making a scale model of one of his more recent pieces, 'Lincoln', to jumping in his truck and driving out to install the piece," Jackson said. "In the process, I have learned a great deal about what it takes to be a successful artist, little of which I had been exposed to before working with Dewitt. I have enjoyed learning each part of his process, starting with grant applications and concept drawings, all the way through fabrication, shipping, and installing.

"It has been an unbelievable opportunity to be exposed to all of this in an undergrad program and I feel extremely lucky to have been a part of it. It has been a strong factor in shaping my Colgate experience, and I think one of the best routes I could have taken."

Godfrey relied on student assistance through the past two years, both at Colgate's Paul Schupf Studio in Hamilton, N.Y., and on the road.

"Chase brought tremendous initiative, energy, and insight to the fabrication and installation of these projects," Godfrey said. "We started as teacher and student, and became colleagues and collaborators. It is hard to imagine how I could have completed this work without him."