Bats Baseball Dedication
City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs to dedicate
“Bats Baseball” at Southside Sports Complex
in one of Atlanta’s largest softball parks.
Date: Thursday, April 29, 2010
Time: 6:00 pm
Dedication: Southside Sports Complex, 3460 Jonesboro Road, SE Atlanta, GA 30354
The City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs will host a dedication for Bats Baseball, a public art installation by sculptor Chris Fennell located at the Southside Sports Complex, on Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 6:00 pm. The installation is the sixth commission installed as part of the City of Atlanta’s Public Art Program’s Community Gateway Project.
“Chris Fennell created a most appropriate sculpture for a softball field…one made of bats! Working with the community of softball players at Southside and children at Rosel Fann Recreation Center really makes this artwork home grown. We gladly accept this sculpture into our public art collection,” said Camille Russell Love, Director, City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs.
The Work will stand 12’ tall, 8’ wide (front to back) 14’ long (side to side). The work (“Bats Baseball”) is comprised of 600 aluminum baseball and softball bats welded together into a baseball that the viewer can walk through. The bats were either donated from Southside softball players, signed by children at the Rosel Fann Recreation Center or donated by Louisville Slugger, the famed baseball bat manufacturer.
The artist, Chris Fennell grew up in Florida and received his engineering degree from the University of South Florida. He went on to work in robotics and to design flight simulators. He went back to school and earned an MFA from the University of Georgia and started building large sculptures from discarded objects. “I can have all the crazy visions that I want but it takes a community like Atlanta that supports art to make it happen. Public Art makes our world more interesting,” said sculptor Chris Fennell.
The Southside Sports Complex was built in 1979 and is a 213 acre park that is home to 65 softball teams and close to 1,000 players. Speaking at the dedication will be Councilmember Joyce Sheperd, director of the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, Camille Russell Love, artist Chris Fennell, and former director of Athletics, Dewey McClain.
About the Public Art Program
Atlanta’s Public Art Program is administered by the Office of Cultural Affairs, Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and is supported by one and one half percent of capital project funding set aside for the inclusion of public art in municipal projects. The Isabel Gates-Webster public art installation is one of six commissions administrated by the Public Art Program for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs 2005 Greenspace and Recreation Opportunity Bond program. All artworks commissioned by the City of Atlanta Public Art Program’s 2005 Greenspace and Recreation Opportunity Bond serve as a portal into Atlanta’s historic neighborhoods.
About the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA)
The OCA, a division of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, was established in 1974 to encourage and support Atlanta's cultural resources. The initial mission was to solidify the role that arts and other cultural resources play in defining and enhancing the social fabric and quality of life of Atlanta citizens and visitors. Today the OCA is working to enhance Atlanta's reputation as a cultural destination. The OCA supports programs that educate and expose the public to a rich and diverse range of cultural expressions through a variety of initiatives.
In 2005, Mayor Shirley Franklin challenged the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs (DPRCA) to invigorate parks and recreation facilities through the 2005 Greenspace and Recreation Opportunity Bond. The department took up the challenge and initiated an aggressive plan to install art in Atlanta’s parks. The Public Art Program team, led by Eddie Granderson, developed temporary art projects in 11 parks, managed the selection process, contracted artists to develop five gateways in neighborhood parks and commissioned a major mural for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic District. The “Community Gateway Project” represents the installation of public artworks in five distinct communities. New public art was installed in Adair I, Cleopas R. Johnson, Isabel Gates Webster, South Bend and Southside Parks. These public art installations serve as gateways to the parks and neighborhoods and are now a part of Atlanta’s landscape.