Lost treasure brings famous artist to MCC
Jacqueline Bernatt
On Jan. 8, faculty, community members, MCC alumni, and students gathered for a dedication ceremony to witness the reinstatement of the Soleri wind bells at the entrance of the Paul A. Elsner Library.
Paolo Soleri is an esteemed figure in both architecture and sustainability cultures. A recipient of numerous gold and silver medals for architecture, and three honorary doctorates, Soleri is the forefront man in the field of Arcology. Arcology is a term describing the marriage of architecture and ecology in order to build settlements that produce the ease of modern urban living, but use less raw materials and energy.
Soleri founded the non-profit Cosanti Foundation and built Arcosanti, an arcological prototype city for 5,000 people located at the Cordes Junction in Central Arizona.
Soleri made it his life’s passion and work to study and experiment with ideas of sustainability, and he funded the entirety of his research by producing and selling wind bells. The bells are dense, colorful sculptures of all sizes made from ceramic and metal materials, and they have won international artistic acclaim.
Mesa Community College’s class of 1968 donated Soleri bells to MCC. MCC President Pan said in his speech, “The class of 1968, one of the first to complete all of their studies at MCC’s new campus, the Southern and Dobson campus, chose to commemorate their time with MCC with the Soleri bell sculpture. It was presented as a gift and installed when the original MCC library opened in 1968. The bell structure hung outside the library until construction of the new Paul A. Elsner Library began in 1998. At that time the bells were relocated to the Art Department, but never installed at the new library until now.”
Pan called the bells, “a timeless piece of art.”
It was art department chair, Sarah Capawana that truly explained the significance of such a piece.
“The artwork has a one of a kind cast aluminum spine created by Paolo Soleri that cannot be duplicated. The absence of an inscription which means the piece was made before Soleri started signing his art means the sculpture is more valuable.
The current sculpture has one of the original bells donated by the class of 1968. Cosanti, where the famous Soleri bells are made and sold, has crafted replacements for the bells that were lost to theft or vandalism,” Capawana said.
The ceremony’s speakers also gave their reverent nods to generous individuals whose charitable donations made the refurbishing and rededication of the Soleri bells possible. A plaque honoring the donors is mounted in the library, most of whom were library and art department employees.
The most remarkable aspect of the gala was the attendance of Soleri himself. Soleri delivered a short speech with the warmth and dignity only a charming man of 90 can do.
“This is an occasion for pleasure and embarrassment. Pleasure because I’m very grateful for your invitation. Embarrassment because I never speak. My eloquence measure in one to ten is about one. So, that’s embarrassing,” said Soleri.
He spoke of an unlikely story of how he came to make wind bells, and that it had led Soleri to his definition of life. “Life is a mixture of accident and intent. Accident always comes before intent.
