Untitled ("Cube"), Bruce West
Bruce West’s untitled stainless steel sculpture, known as the “Cube,” was languishing in a less than optimal location in City Hall when OASF approached the City of Salem to relocate it to the grounds of the new Salem Convention Center, where it was moved. But in March 2015, through a collaboration between OASF and the Salem Public Art Commission, the piece was re-sited again, to an art well at the northeast corner of Liberty and State streets downtown, adjacent to the recently renovated McGilchrist and Roth buildings.
"It reflects this gorgeous building and the surroundings into the street. It's going to catch people's attention. I'm such a proponent for art and for history, so it just brings it all together here on this corner," building owner Gayle Caldarazzo-Doty said.
The project was made possible by a $25,000 grant from the city's Urban Renewal Agency that funded the design and installation of the City’ first art well. The $1,500 cost to polish, move and install the cube was funded by the Salem Public Art Commission and OASF.
Artist Bruce West was born in Northern China in 1939, the son of missionary parents. His family settled in Medford, Oregon, and West attended the University of Oregon, where he was first a sculpture, then a jewelry major. He was an Artist in Residence at Mt. Angel College and taught for one year at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia. He spent the bulk of his career, 34 years, teaching at Lewis & Clark College in Portland.
