Flad presents artwork

University Research Park soon will have its first permanent outdoor art installation, as a result of efforts by Flad & Associates.

A sculpture by Richard R. Taylor will be unveiled at noon Thursday, July 26, commissioned by the recently retired president of Flad & Associates, Ralph H. Jackson Jr., as a gift to the university.

The artwork is being installed in the entry courtyard on the south side of the Flad building, 644 Science Drive. Jackson says this gift to the UW fills a niche which Flad has long wanted to fill. “It has been six years since we first occupied our building in the UW Research Park, and the void was felt keenly by our associates group. They wanted to search for an appropriate sculpture to complete the design.”

Taylor, a Milwaukee sculptor, has done several installations around Wisconsin. The sculpture is composed of sheets of aluminum alloy, cut by water jets and shaped in interactive forms, with a permanent finish to withstand Wisconsin winters. It weighs between 300 and 400 pounds.

“The resulting piece has oblique references to Flad but is non-representational,” Jackson says. “It contains many different elements, yet has a unified feeling.”

Artist Taylor works in both free-standing and wall-mounted sculpture. A graduate of UW-Milwaukee, Taylor has done numerous shows and more than 50 commissions since 1989 for private clients as well as large corporations such as Quad/Graphics, U.S. Robotics, Allen Bradley, and S.C. Johnson Co.

Flad & Associates is an Architecture/Engineering firm recognized for its planning and design of high technology facilities.