A New Park for New Bern

I'm really excited about the new park that will be developed at the base of Broad Street. It will hold the kinetic sculpture that artist Susan Pascal Beran is creating for New Bern.

The thing I am REALLY excited about is that I'll be able to see the sculpture and park from my house!

I've always loved kinetic sculptures and this one is really special for our town since it depicts

Lycoris radiata var. radiata, RED SPIDER LILY, 1821.

Legend has it that this lily was introduced into New Bern by a US Navy captain in the 1850s and spread across the country from here.

This lily is really interesting because in the spring the red flower pops up out of nowhere, it then dies off and is replaced eventually by spikey green leaves.

Dr. Jim Congleton commissioned the sculpture designed and constructed by Susan Pascal Beran, whose work is featured in the Kennedy Center and major cities throughout the country.

It’s made almost entirely of stainless steel, with “bits of titanium to dance in the wind,” Pascal Beran said, and glass in the center to capture the sunlight. All told, the piece weighs just shy of 2,000 pounds, including the base, and portions of it are specifically treated to be resistant to ultraviolet rays.

The artist has built two similar sculptures for Dallas, she said, but added that New Bern’s is a “super build,” because of the scale of the project and the conditions it must withstand.

Due to utility work that will be done on the site the layout of the park has been modified from the original shown here.

Here is a link to a video at the Atlanta Botanical  Gardens that shows many kinetic sculptures including one by Susan. It's really interesting to hear these artists talk about their work. Click here to watch it.

There will be fundraising campaign spearheaded by Swiss Bear to help develop the park, watch the newspaper for details.

Sculptures by Jeff Price

Welcome to our newest artist Jeff Price.

Just in, fabulous kinetic sculptures that creates a strong, unique, optical illusion as they rotate - it appears that the marbles are either rising or falling. They are 24" tall with a powder coated, baked on paint. Jeff blows the large marbles one at a time, each an original work of art.

The wind twirlers rotate in the wind if outside, if inside they are rotated by hand or with a battery operated spinner (available in the gallery).

Many buy them for the beauty of the large marble as much as for the illusion. A screw eye and a very strong string for hanging are also included, along with instructions.

The year Jeff was born was the year his father built his first glass-blowing studio in their back yard. Both of Jeff's parents blew glass for many years. From an early age he would watch them with wonderment. They were having such great fun that he knew he wanted to blow glass when he "grew up."

Jeff has his own state-of-the art glass blowing studio with an electric furnace ( to provide the cleanest and brightest glass), two glory holes, an iridizing unit, grinding and polishing equipment.