Fayetteville Artist's Work Speaks to World

Jill M. Rohrbach, travel writer
Arkansas Tourism

It's the culmination of a lifetime of work for Fayetteville sculptor Hank Kaminsky...and a massive piece of public art that speaks to the entire world. Ten feet in diameter, the World Peace Prayer Fountain is a bronze sphere layered with more than 100 languages touting the same message, "May Peace Prevail on Earth."

The work of public art was unveiled New Year's Eve 2002 on Fayetteville's downtown square. Water streams from its top and flows to a pool below, and elements of nature have already begun to color the bronze sculpture a brilliant, green patina. Throughout the piece, languages meet and intertwine. The Hebrew and Arabic languages converge at the word "peace," as do the Chinese and Tibetan scripts.

While the sphere symbolizes Earth, there are underlying abstract elements. "I'm an abstract thinker. It's what makes me feel alive," he explained. Places that have shaped who Kaminsky is have also shaped the sculpture. Horizontal elements of the Ozark strata are represented in the work.

When asked why people should travel to Arkansas to view the immense sculpture, Kaminsky said the most spiritual of reasons is that this piece is a beacon -- a physical radiation of peace from the middle of the continent outward. "In one way or another, it touches everybody. Or, it can."

The sculpture also spins in the direction the Earth rotates when visitors lay their hands upon it. "You can put your intentions into the prayer," he said.

The artist first imagined the piece in 1999 while viewing architectural drawings for Fayetteville's Town Center (convention center), which was completed in 2001. At the time, though, he did not visualize a finished work of art.

"I envisioned a piece of sculpture. I saw shape and a relation to the building. That's all," Kaminsky explained. After discussing the piece with the architect and community leaders for many months, the project was approved at a cost of more than $275,000, which was financed by Ed Bradberry of Fayetteville and New York. The Bradberry family is known for its philanthropic support of Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas.

It took 16 months to build the sculpture, with 20 people working during the peak of the project. The sculpture took form by first welding together a steel sphere and covering it with two inches of potter's clay.

Kaminsky's art is not about what media he works in, but rather about method. He creates plastic sculpture. Kaminsky explained that the word "plastic" was invented before the product of plastic that we know today. In the art world, plastic means to add and build from within. The clay on the sphere was added piece by piece until all the languages were shaped, as can be seen by close inspection The pattern of the languages was not mapped out beforehand, but added when and where Kaminsky -- and the other artists that helped -- felt it right.

The sphere was then divided into 42 sections and a rubber mold was made of each. Sand molds were taken of the molded patterns and cast into bronze. The 42 bronze pieces, each weighing some 200 pounds, were then welded together to form the hollow sphere which sits and spins on a large metal pole anchored in the ground. Although the sphere is only three-eighths of an inch thick, the entire sculpture weighs about 8,000 pounds.

Kaminsky said a majority of artists work with a finished product in mind. "I sculpt because I want to discover form," he explained. "My method yields a product, but I'm often surprised at what comes out." But, there is a deeper reason why the 64-year-old artist sculpts. "I'm trying to discover the shape of the universe."

While the prayer fountain is a culmination of his life's work, Kaminsky will continue to explore the shape of the universe through art. "What else is there?" he asked. "Everything is part of the universe."

Kaminsky has also created busts and numerous other public commissioned pieces, most in Fayetteville and Little Rock. The artist is currently working on a bust for the Lady Razorbacks and two large projects, one for the town of Clinton and a fountain for the Washington Regional Medical Center.