GREENFALL – 1987-1990, 2007-2008, lower basin to be replanted in 2010

- bronze relief Critical Juncture / Fluid Boundary, stainless steel rods, prairie plantings
10’h x 38’w – State of Iowa Historical Building, Des Moines, Iowa
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FREE FLOW – 2007 – bronze relief / falling water

8.5’h x 48”x 51”– C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory lobby
IIHR – Hydroscience & Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City
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BUILDING A FOUNDATION – 1998 – bronze relief

15”h x 21.5’w – Levitt Center for University Advancement

University of Iowa, Iowa City
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MERGING RIVERS – 1998 – bronze relief / oil paint
57.5”h x 62”w – Mercy Medical Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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UNDER BLUE SKIES – 1995 – aluminum relief / urethane paint
7.25’h x 16.5’w  – Ronald McDonald House, Iowa City, Iowa
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THE RIVER: Time is a River without Banks – 1986 – cast grey iron
33’h x 26’w – Johnson County Administration Building, Iowa City, Iowa
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21st BOUNDARY – 1982–1984 – cast iron / Corten steel, each of four split columns:
21’h x 4’ x 8’ (site: 60’ x 120’) – Regency West Office Park, West Des Moines, Iowa
 
SLOW DANCE – (aka Parameters.Perimeters., an exhibition of sculpture framed by Language and Time) – 1978, 2006 – steel / wire / cast iron / glass, each of 6 related sculptures: 8’h x 16.5” x 16.5” (variable spacing over time creates a Slow Dance )
Blank Honors Center lobby, University of Iowa, Iowa City

 

Starting in the 1990s, Listening to the River became the metaphoric title and theme of several of the artist's major solo exhibitions.  These exhibitions feature Wyrick’s smaller-scale painted bronze and mixed media sculptures, charcoal drawings and her unique Needle Drawings, which are layered paper reliefs overlaid with vellum. Her artworks are in collections around the United States and Europe. Wyrick earned M.A. (1976) and M.F.A. (1983) degrees in Art with emphasis on sculpture and drawing from the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

 

 

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SHORT BIO FOR STATE PEN WOMEN MEETING – September 2009...

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Shirley Wyrick is an Iowa City artist whose major sculptural works for public viewing are in:  

Des Moines Critical Juncture / Fluid Boundary - State of Iowa Historical Building and 21st Boundary  - Regency West Office Park, West Des Moines)

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Iowa City Free Flow - C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory Building, Building a Foundation - Levitt Center for University Advancement, Slow Dance - UI Blank Honors Center and The River, TIime is a River without Banks  - Johnson County Administration Building.  These works are created primarily in cast and fabricated metals.

 

In 2007 Wyrick's 1989 cast bronze relief Critical Juncture / Fluid Boundary  (located within the outdoor plaza on the southwest corner of the State of Iowa Historical Building, Des Moines) was enhanced by the addition of the artist-designed simulated waterfall of stainless steel rods combined with plant materials in the former basins of the original 38’ wide, nonfunctioning waterfall.  The Iowa theme of the bronze relief was continued in planting the lower basin with prairie plants.

 

After installation, the entire artwork was to be named Greenfall in anticipation of the future growth of the upper basin plantings of blue rug juniper, which were designed to spill over the weir edge among the steel rods. Note: this did not occur because the plantings could not be sustained due to extreme heat. The sculpture remains named Critical Juncture / Fluid Boundary.

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03/09/2018 Wyrick Short Bio

(generic – modified several times)...

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A longtime Iowa City resident, Wyrick has shown her artwork in numerous solo and group exhibitions.  Her major cast and fabricated metal/multimedia sculptures are located in Des Moines at the State of Iowa Historical Building, at the former residence of Sigurd and Ann Anderson, and at Regency West Office Park, and in Iowa City at the Johnson County Administration Building, at the Levitt Center for University Advancement, at the Blank Honors Center and at the C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory Building.  Her M.A. and M.F.A. degrees in Art were earned from the University of Iowa.

 

Wyrick is the originator of an extensive series of Needle Drawings, named for the creative process she uses to create them.  These drawings, as well as those in charcoal, pastel and mixed media have been widely shown and collected.  She has been described as a ‘lateral thinker,’ a person who sees connections between unlikely sources.