In August, Crowell was commissioned by the Dayton Visual Arts Center to create the sculpture for the Victoria Theatre Association\u2019s newest performance space \u2014 the PNC Arts Annex. The grand opening of the annex, located on the corner of Second and Ludlow streets, is Friday, Nov. 30.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2018\/11\/Landon-Crowell-20417_011-508x338.jpg\")
<\/a>Landon Crowell, fine arts technician in the Wright State Department of Art and Art History, created an aerial sculpture in the new PNC Arts Annex in downtown Dayton. (Video by Kris Sproles \/ photos by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n
The 12,000-square-foot space, across from the Schuster Center for the Performing Arts, has been transformed into a blackbox theater, classrooms and workshop spaces to host performances for all ages.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey wanted something unexpected for visitors, and the selection committee liked that my sculpture would be mechanically static but visually dynamic,\u201d said Crowell.<\/p>\n
Crowell said the aluminum pipes, which are fastened together with nuts that serve as rivets, are relatively light and were easy to work with.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of based off of my other work,\u201d he said. \u201cI work with a lot of branches, tar and wax. I\u2019m not using those same materials, but I\u2019m doing some optical flattening with things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crowell is an accomplished sculptor. The Dayton Visual Arts Center, one of the region\u2019s leading contemporary gallery spaces and artists\u2019 organizations, has called him one of eight promising Dayton artists to watch.<\/p>\n
Crowell has exhibited at the Rosewood Arts Centre in Kettering, among other arts venues in the area. His artwork is also featured at Corner Kitchen, a bistro in Dayton\u2019s Oregon District, and matches the reclaimed wood and rough steel inside the eatery.<\/p>\n
As a fine arts technician at Wright State, Crowell is often called on to install art at the Stein Galleries in the Creative Arts Center. He also helped install \u201cDial,\u201d the sculpture in the Neuroscience Engineering Collaboration Building that is designed to mimic the firing of the brain\u2019s neurons by creating complex, shifting patterns of light and shadow.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2018\/11\/Landon-Crowell-20699_007-508x312.jpg\")
<\/a>Crowell’s sculpture features an optical illusion for viewers who stand in a certain sweet spots.<\/p><\/div>\n
Crowell grew up in Dayton and became interested in drawing at Dayton Christian High School because his teacher said he had talent. After graduating, he pursued art classes in college.<\/p>\n
He received a full-ride track and cross country scholarship to the University of Akron but left before finishing his degree. During the summers, he worked as a mountain guide at Yosemite National Park in California.<\/p>\n
When Crowell was backpacking or working as a guide, a sketchpad was his constant companion. Letters home would be painted with watercolors.<\/p>\n
After leaving the University of Akron, Crowell returned to Dayton and got a job doing conservation work. He helped plant 60,000 saplings along the interstate highways between Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati and cleared brush to create bike trails from Dayton to Brookville.<\/p>\n
Crowell later moved to Springfield, Vermont, where he worked at a production ceramics studio. He returned to Dayton and enrolled at Wright State, where in 2002 he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture<\/a>.<\/p>\n After graduation, Crowell moved to Cimarron, New Mexico, where he taught high school art, photography, shop and welding and coached cross country. He joined the staff at Wright State in 2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New sculpture by Landon Crowell, fine arts technician in the Department of Art and Art History, features an optical illusion for viewers. Continue reading