Monthly Archives: February 2013

Starr Kempf outdoor sculpture

Starr has had little recognition outside of Colorado Springs, and it is really too bad, because the guy is a fantastic artist and visionary. All of these sculptures are located at the Kempf residence near Cheyenne Canyon, and date back to 1977. Starr was keenly interested in creating an environment where each of these sculptures relate to one another even as they stand alone. The material is painted steel, and there are many moving parts. The sculptures slowly swing back and fourth in the wind, several rotate, and the round parts with fins spin, like a roof vent. He did all of this from a tiny little workshop set along the street, below the house a little bit – eventually each sculpture is too large, and he is out in his driveway for the final assembly. Starr committed suicide in 1995, and some of the sculptures shown here may have been removed due to ongoing legal issues with the city and neighborhood. The house gives some scale, but take my word when I say these are BIG sculptures.

Scottish

If you know that quote your probably over 35, or watch a lot of SNL reruns. I believe Mike Myers says that in one of the skits, “If it isn’t Scottish, it’s crap! “.

I don’t really mean to offend all my Norwegian cousinsĀ  – I am half Norwegian after all, and only 1/4 or 1/3 Scottish. The thing is, there are not very many Norwegian festivals, not to mention pubs. In Colorado there are any number of Irish/Scottish/Celtic festival throughout the summer featuring everything from young dancers to trebuchets. Not so for the Norwegians, I guess there is just not enough of a concentration. Perhaps in Minnesota I could find a big Norway fest, but not Colorado.

As a side note, here on the East Coast you don’t see combined Irish/Scottish festivals – they don’t appear to mingle that much. I could probably get beat up in an Irish bar. We will see…