Athena Tacha facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Athena Tacha
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Artist Athena Tacha in front of her 36 Years of Aging, Eclipse Gallery, Arlington, VA, 2008
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| Born | 1936 (age 88–89) |
| Education | Athens School of Fine Arts, M.A. in sculpture (1959) Oberlin College, M.A. in art history (1961) Sorbonne, Doctorate in aesthetics (1963) |
| Known for | environmental sculpture public sculpture, conceptual art |
Athena Tacha (Greek: Αθηνά Τάχα), born in 1936 in Larissa, Greece, is a talented visual artist. She is famous for creating art that fits into its surroundings, like parks or public spaces. This is called environmental or public sculpture. She also works with conceptual art, which focuses on ideas.
Athena Tacha uses many different materials in her art. These include stone, brick, steel, water, and even plants and LED lights. She also works with photography, film, and special artist books. Her art often tells stories and uses interesting shapes and patterns.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Athena Tacha was born in Greece in 1936. She studied art in several countries. She earned a master's degree in sculpture from the Athens School of Fine Arts in Greece in 1959. Then, she received another master's degree in art history from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1961. She completed her studies with a doctorate in aesthetics from the Sorbonne in Paris in 1963.
After her education, Tacha worked as a curator at the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. A curator helps organize art exhibitions. From 1973 to 2000, she taught sculpture as a professor at Oberlin College. Since 1998, she has been connected with the University of Maryland, College Park, and lives in Washington, DC.
Creating Public Art
Athena Tacha was one of the first artists to create large sculptures designed specifically for outdoor spaces. She started doing this in the early 1970s. She has won more than 50 competitions to create permanent public art. Nearly 40 of these projects have been built across the United States.
One of her notable public artworks is Connections. This was a large, two-acre sculptural landscape in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, located within Matthias Baldwin Park. Tacha has also had many solo art shows in New York City and exhibited her work in group shows worldwide. Her art has even been shown at the Venice Biennale, a very famous art exhibition.
Tacha also created many conceptual artworks using text and photographs. Many of these were published as unique artist's books. These books were printed between 1970 and 2005. Some of her smaller books, called "pocket books," were like mini-magazines. In one, The Way My Mind Works, she wrote about her thoughts. Other larger artist books explored geometry, space, and simple designs. She also created self-portraits in works like Gestures and Expressions.
Art Exhibitions
In 1989, a large exhibition of Athena Tacha's work was held at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. It featured over 100 sculptures, drawings, and photographic pieces. The exhibition included big color photos of her completed public artworks. A detailed catalog, Athena Tacha: Public Works, 1970-88, was published for this show.
In the same year, she had another exhibition at the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art. This show included new sculptures, drawings, and two large temporary art installations. Her most recent museum solo show was Small Wonders: New Sculpture and Photoworks in 2006. It was held at the American University's Katzen Arts Center in Washington, D.C.
A big exhibition covering 40 years of her art, "Athena Tacha: From the Public to the Private," opened in 2010. It was at the Contemporary Art Center in Thessaloniki, Greece. This show displayed all kinds of Tacha's art, from large outdoor sculptures to "body sculptures" and films.
Tacha's sculptures and photo-works are part of many important art collections. These include the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Recent Public Art Projects
Here are some of Athena Tacha's public art projects completed between 2001 and 2009:
- Victory Plaza (2000–02): A large plaza with fountains in front of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
- STOP & GO: to Garrett Augustus Morgan (2001–04): A plaza for the Metrorail's Morgan Blvd. Station in Washington, DC.
- Hearts Beat (2002–04): A 350-foot-long ceiling with animated LED lights. It is in a sky bridge connecting the Grosvenor Metro station to the Strathmore Music Center in N. Bethesda, Maryland.
- Riding with Sarah and Wayne (2004–06): A mile-long track pavement for the Light Rail in Newark, New Jersey.
- Waterlinks II (2006–08): A large granite water wall at the University of Wisconsin’s Business School in Madison, Wisconsin.
- An amphitheater and two fountains (2002–09) for the Muhammad Ali Center Plaza in Louisville, KY.
- A plaza pavement with a Light Obelisk Fountain in front of Bloomingdale's. Also, an arcade ceiling called Light Riggings with colorful animated lights. And an LED sculpture, WWW-Tower (2001-09). These are all part of Wisconsin Place, a large development in Bethesda, Maryland.
Books About Her Work
Several books have been written about Athena Tacha's art:
- Athena Tacha: Public Sculpture (1982)
- Forms of Chaos: Drawings by Athena Tacha (1988)
- Elizabeth McClelland, Cosmic Rhythms: Athena Tacha's Public Sculpture (1998)
- Dancing in the Landscape: The Sculpture of Athena Tacha (2000)
- Visualizing the Universe. Athena Tacha's Proposals for Public Art Commissions, 1972-2012 (2017)
- Fifty Years Inside an Artist's Mind: The Journal of Athena Tacha (2020)
- Richard E. Spear, The Art of Athena Tacha. A Complete Catalogue (2022)
Main catalogs from her solo exhibitions include:
- Athena Tacha: Public Works, 1970-88 (2009)
- Athena Tacha: New Works, 1986-89 (1989)
- Athena Tacha: Small Wonders - New Sculptures and Photoworks (2006)
- Athena Tacha: From Public to Private (2010)
