THE COMMUNITY
Stainless steel and brass
Panel 8' X 8' X 1'

Local Sculptor wins international competition
Jim Collins'  'The Community' was dedicated recently in New York
By Ann Nichols Arts Writer

    In 2002, New City, N.Y. issued an international call for sculpture entries.  Signal Mountain artist Jim Collins answered that call.
"The Sheriff's Department wanted to commission a new sculpture for its complex," said Mr. Collins.  "Since the department's role involves locating missing people, isolating prisoners and protecting and monitoring the community, I thought the theme of community was appropriate."
    "The Community" is composed of an 8-foot by 8-foot brushed-steel panel that resembles a puzzle with a piece missing.  On the panel, Mr. Collins has assembled a racially, ethnically and culturally diverse community of people with international symbols for men, women, boys and girls.  However, a single figure has been cut out from the panel and is mounted above and away from the group.
    For Mr. Collins, that missing piece represents the person who has left or been removed from the community and, though feeling alienated, has the hope of returning to take his or her rightful place.
    "Each viewer, though, will be able to make up his or her own personal story using the sculpture as a guide," he said.  "The Community" is Mr. Collins' most recent large-scale commission.  New City is located in Rockland County, about 20 miles north of New York City.

Chattanooga Times Free Press, July 6, 2003          

©Copyright 2007, Jim Collins, All Rights Reserved