Announced 1 April by the trib, includes WTC Finalist Brian Strawn & Karla Sierralta...
Finalists named for sculpture at Tribune Tower museum

By Charles Storch
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 1, 2005


The McCormick Tribune Foundation said Thursday it has selected 10 finalists in its international competition for a signature artwork for a new Michigan Avenue museum.

The Chicago foundation said it received 690 entries from 34 countries since the competition was announced last October.

The finalists now must complete scale models for a second round. The winner may be named as soon as June.

The work selected will be situated in the two-story rotunda of the museum, which will be at Tribune Tower.

The museum, scheduled to open in a year, will honor the foundation's benefactor, the late Robert R. McCormick, a longtime editor and publisher of the Tribune. The museum and its principal artwork are meant to inspire conversation about the 1st Amendment and other freedoms he championed.

The 10 finalists were selected by an independent jury of seven members.

The selections include sculpture and site-specific installations. Some pieces are inscribed; others are interactive with the space.

Four of the entries are from Chicago, works by B.J. Krivanek; Jason Pickelman; Brian Strawn; and the team of Matthew Kobylar and Javier Ayala.

The others are by: Aaron Kadoch of Quechee, Vt.; Michael Lewis, Norman Lee and Carl Rhodes of Houston; Amy Larimer and Peter Bernheim of San Diego; Francine LeClercq of New York; Werner Klotz, also of New York; and Erik Hemingway of Farmington Hills and Rochelle Martin of nearby Beverly Hills, both in Michigan.

The winning artist or team will receive $100,000 plus the cost of fabricating, transporting and installing the work.