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Mobile
graces art at Rutledge Tower
by Cindy A. Abole
Public Relations
Receiving a 1998 Spoleto Festival craft fair award has done nothing
but open doors for Lowcountry artist and sculptor John Douglas Donehue
Jr. He’s especially proud of his latest achievement which he defines as
both a tribute and triumph currently featured at MUSC Rutledge Tower.
“I feel lucky to be asked to work on this piece,” said Donehue, a 1994
graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design now working with Brooks
Sign Center in Charleston. “I was fortunate to be able to work closely
with the architect.”
That architect and project designer is David Thome of Enwright Associates,
Inc. in Greenville. Enwright won the $32 million renovation contract to
convert the old St. Francis Xavier Hospital after it was acquired by MUSC
in 1992. Enwright was also the architectural firm that designed the Strom
Thurmond Biomedical Research Center and the Gazes Cardiac Institute which
opened in 1996.
“It was a challenge to find art that could accommodate the North
Tower entrance,” said Thome in a recent telephone interview. “It’s a good
volume of space to work with. Architecturally, there’s a great floor to
height ratio.”
It was the decision of Rutledge Tower’s steering committee to utilize
local artistry in various places at Rutledge Tower. Thome worked with Barbara
Stender, an art historian and owner of “Art for Business,” an agency that
markets local artist’s works.
“Rutledge Tower is very unique,” said Stender. “It conveys the feeling
of a combined high quality, state-of-the art, modern and comfortable environment
for anyone walking through its halls. Visiting a hospital should not be
like attending a house tour. People need to be made comfortable. This is
accomplished even with the area’s high artistic standards.”
Thome was hopeful with the idea of using a mobile to fill the airy
two-story space. He and Stender visited several Lowcountry galleries and
houses to help identify Charleston’s artistic mood and talent. Stender
knew the 28-year old Donehue from his successful run at the Spoleto arts
and crafts exhibition and introduced him to Thome. The two collaborated
and the mobile quickly evolved.
Donehue created a one-third scale model featuring the same materials
from the original. Shortly afterwards, Donehue supervised the final steps
in hanging his 75-pound masterpiece on July 23.
“I focused on utilizing both color and design,” said Donehue, describing
the three-tiered steel rod mobile delicately balanced by three cantilevers.
The tower’s north entrance features a revolving door and carpet’s sweeping
linear circle designs— matching the mobile’s discs and arcs to the room’s
natural curves and the piece’s constant multi-directional movement. The
discs, shaped from welded sheet metal and airbrushed in shades of purples
and deep blues help compliment the carpet’s “wayfaring” designs, wall colors
and natural light. “I wanted to bring everything out from above and below,”
Donehue said.
“Carolina Thirty-Two,” titled after the structure’s design of
four individual mobiles each hosting eight discs, isdedicated to his father,
long-time Charlestonian J. Douglas Donehue. He recently completed a smaller
scale version of the mobile which was auctioned for charity supporting
the MUSC Children’s Hospital Fund.
Other artistic pieces featured at Rutledge Tower include: “Hope,” Gale
Ray; “The Beauty of Life..The Passages of Time...The Choices We Make..The
Hand of Fate,” Nancy Lee Sneddon; and “Marsh Vistas,” John Hulsey.
“There’s no doubt the renovation was a challenge. We wanted to stay
within our budget and make sure the renovation designs were not too opulent,
but instead, kept a good balance,” Thome commented. “I’m proud that through
art, we were able to initiate some positive results by creating a comfortable
mood for visitors at Rutledge Tower.”
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