ST. GEORGE — Young university students and seasoned, white-haired community residents sat side-by-side in a dimly lit Utah Tech lecture hall on Tuesday, ready to learn about famous Italian sculptor and artist Harry Bertoia. Pens out and paper ready, they attended this class as the first community lecture of the semester, put on by the university for free and for anyone to attend every Tuesday at noon.
Celia Bertoia, Harry Bertoia’s daughter as well as director and founder of The Harry Bertoia Foundation, gave the lecture on Tuesday.
“I hope to inspire you to do your own great things, whatever they may be,” she said, by sharing her father’s life story and art.
Ranging from metallurgical dandelion sculptures — three-story-tall bronze rod and cone sculptures — to “sound sculptures,” tall, vertical rods planted on flat bases that produce resonating ambiance when moved, Harry Bertoia’s creations can be found in prestigious museums across the country, Celia Bertoia said. These include the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center.
Southern Utah residents can experience Harry Bertoia’s art first-hand at the Harry Bertoia Foundation’s gallery in St. George, located at 1449 N. 1400 West Street, unit 11.
“I really think he was connected to the divine, somehow,” Celia Bertoia said. “He never signed things, because he felt that his artistic abilities came from a divine source. He didn’t title things, either, because he felt that the viewers were just as important as the creator (of the art), and he didn’t want to put ideas in your head.”
“Harry was raised Catholic, but we were an unchurched family. Religion was not really part of our lives, but he was very spiritual.”
Harry Bertoia grew up in rural Italy, working as a farm boy while seizing every opportunity he could to sketch and draw, Celia Bertoia explained. When he eventually immigrated to the U.S. as a young man, his brother provided room and board for Harry Bertoia to attend Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he met his wife, a German immigrant, Brigitta Valentiner.
The two quickly married after meeting each other, and the Bertoia family followed Harry Bertoia’s sculpting and furniture designing career after graduation from California to Pennsylvania.
John Burns, chair of the University Forum, shared his own thoughts regarding Harry Bertoia’s art and legacy.
“He pushed the wave of post-war art into an expansive period of exploration, not only visual but practical and tactile art,” Burns said. “From delicate jewelry to massive fountains, from asymmetrical lounges to petite children’s chairs, he diffused nature’s beauty and transformed it into uplifting, experiential pieces.”
In a press release, Burns described the purpose of the University Forum.
“The University Forum is a long-held and wonderful tradition here at Utah Tech,” he said. “Our mission is to help attendees experience a window on the world with a goal of igniting a hunger and thirst for curiosity-based life-long learning.”
“Bring a friend or 10, an enemy, a relative, a neighbor or anyone you know. These guest speakers are not to be missed and have most graciously set time aside to be on our campus to share their research and knowledge with us. Join us for a season of fascinating topics and captivating guests.”
Jyl Hall, Utah Tech’s director of public relations, explained why the university continues to spend resources to produce these community lectures.
“As part of our ‘active learning, active life’ approach to education, we understand that learning is a lifelong commitment,” Hall said, “so we want to offer all kinds of opportunities for the community to come on campus and learn.”
“The fun thing about Community Forum is its wide variety of topics. There’s going to be something that interests everyone, and there will be opportunities to learn things that you don’t know at all.”
Each free presentation will be 50 minutes long and will take place at noon in the Dunford Auditorium of the Browning Resource Center on Utah Tech’s campus.
Dr. James J. A. Blair, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Cal Poly Pomona, will lecture next on Sept. 20. He will speak about lithium mining.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.