Bill FitzGibbons

Bill FitzGibbons
Born1950, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
EducationUniversity of Tennessee (BFA)
Washington University in St. Louis (MFA)
AwardsFulbright Scholar – Hungarian Academy of Art, 2012 3D State Artist of Texas, Arts and Letter Award Friends of the San Antonio Public Library
Known forPublic art light sculptures, environmental art

Bill FitzGibbons (born 1950) is an American artist born in Memphis, Tennessee, who focuses on public art light sculptures, and environmental art. FitzGibbons has worked with sculpture for over thirty years, and has done projects in numerous countries, including Finland, Iceland, Germany, and the UK.[1] For 2012, the state of Texas announced FitzGibbons as a State Artist.[2]

Biography

Towards the end of the 1960s, FitzGibbons graduated from high school and left his Memphis home to move east and attend college.[3] He attended the University of Tennessee and then Washington University in St. Louis.[4] FitzGibbons credits the Russian Constructivists, in regards to their sculpture and philosophy with having impacted his early work.[5] His first creations were neon paintings, then scrap material media projects, and eventually polyester resin sculptures.[3] He completed dozens of public art projects while working full-time as executive director of Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum.[6]

For 2012 FitzGibbons was announced as the 3D state artist of Texas.[2] When he received the award, FitzGibbons expressed the hope that "more attention on the state level can be brought to the arts, so the government can understand that the support of the visual and performing arts in the state actually is an investment in our future and it should be one of the fundamentals of education."[7]

Artistic style

Public Art Light Sculpture

An example of a FitzGibbons public art light sculpture would be his LightRails.[8] It lights a tunnel in Birmingham, Alabama.[8] The installation is composed of a network of computerized LEDs that have lighting patterns.[8]

Environmental Art

An example of a FitzGibbons environmental art work rendering would be his Duck Pond, at the plaza of the Heritage Park Duck Pond.[9] The work has eight steel columns holding ducks.[9]

Artworks

  • 1990 Lemon Creek Plaza, Lemon Creek Correctional Facility. (Juneau, AK)[10]
  • 1996 Rhode Island Lights, exterior, neon sculpture at the Rhode Island Convention Center. (Providence, RI)[11]
  • 2001 Duck Pond Plaza, design Team with Groves and Associates, redesign of a neighborhood park with public art. (San Antonio, TX)[9]
  • 2003–2005 Skywall, 60’ long sculpture with LED lights at the Bush Intercontinental Airport. (Houston, TX)[12]
  • 2006 Light Channels, site-specific, public art project consisting of aluminum sculptures and hundreds of LED lights. Installed at the I-37 underpasses at Houston and Commerce Streets. (San Antonio, TX)[13]
  • 2006 Day Star Archway, 40' tall archway and walkway at the San Antonio International Airport. (San Antonio, TX)[14]
  • 2008 Alamo Lights, site-specific, ephemeral light installation on the Alamo; Luminaria festival. (San Antonio, TX)[6]
  • 2010 Knoxville ColorLine, Site-specific ephemeral light installation at the Knoxville Museum of Art. (Knoxville, TN)[15]
  • 2013 San Antonio Colorline, a permanent, site-specific LED light sculpture for the downtown Robert B. Green University Health System Clinic. (San Antonio, TX)[16]
  • 2013 LightRails, downtown. (Birmingham, AL)[8]
  • 2014 Culebra Plaza, environmental plaza with LED light sculpture. This artwork was in collaboration with the local neighborhood association and school. (San Antonio, TX)[17]
  • 2016 Centro Chrome Tower, an 85-foot interactive light sculpture tower that is part of the new downtown Westside Transit Center. (San Antonio, TX)[18]
  • 2016 Kinetic Skyline, a permanent, site-specific LED light sculpture for the Bank of America plaza building.[19]
  • 2018 El Paso Passage, site-specific computerized LED light sculpture under Airways Blvd. at the entrance to the El Paso International Airport.[1]
  • 2019 West Palm Beach Lights, site-specific computerized LED sculpture on the new Braman Motorcars facility, West Palm Beach, Florida.[20]

Exhibitions

  • 2007 Shattering Glass, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York[21]
  • 2008 Alamo Lights, Luminaria: Arts Night in SA San Antonio, Texas[6]
  • 2014 Right Side/Wrong Side, Performance, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas[5]
  • 2015 Lalit Kala Akademi (National Academy of Art), New Delhi India[5]
  • 2021 The State of Sculpture, San Angelo Museum of Fine Art, San Angelo, Texas[22]

Awards

  • 1993 Fulbright Scholar, Hungarian Academy of Art and Design[5]
  • 2010 Outstanding Alumni Award, University of Tennessee[23]
  • 2012 Texas State 3D Artist, Texas Commission on the Arts[2]
  • 2014 CODAaward for LightRails, juried for the best design project in the transportation category[24]
  • 2017 Arts & Letters Award, Friends of the San Antonio Public Library[25]
  • 2022 CODAworx, Stockyard Spectrum selected as one of the Top 100 International Public Art Projects[26]

References

  1. ^ a b Gaytan, Samuel (July 3, 2018). "Airway to close as El Paso installs lighted piece by San Antonio artist Bill FitzGibbons". El Paso Times.
  2. ^ a b c "State Artist (visual art)". Texas Commission on the Arts. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  3. ^ a b McClelland, Rachel (November 5, 2014). "Light Maker". Our Tennessee. The University of Tennessee.
  4. ^ "UT Graduates, Renowned Artists Open Exhibit in Ewing Gallery Tonight". The University of Tennessee Knoxville. September 16, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d Sweeney, Gary (September 2, 2014). "Artist on Artist: Gary Sweeney interviews Bill FitzGibbons". San Antonio Current.
  6. ^ a b c Browning, Taylor (November 9, 2013). "Bill FitzGibbons, San Antonio's Social Sculptor". San Antonio Report.
  7. ^ Silva, Elda (June 5, 2011). "Texas sees the light, honors San Antonio artist, FitzGibbons known for his large-scale light sculptures". My SA (San Antonio Express-News).
  8. ^ a b c d Jobson, Christopher (August 8, 2013). "LightRails: A Neglected Railroad Underpass Illuminated by Artist Bill FitzGibbons". COLOSSAL.
  9. ^ a b c "Duck Pond". City of San Antonio ARTS & CULTURE. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  10. ^ "Lemon Creek Plaza, (sculpture)". Art Inventories Catalog Smithsonian American Art Museum Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS). Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  11. ^ "Rhode Island Lights". RHODE ISLAND STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  12. ^ "ARTWORK AT IAH" (PDF). ART At The Airport George Bush Intercontinental. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  13. ^ "Light Channels". City of San Antonio ARTS & CULTURE. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  14. ^ "Day Star Archway". City of San Antonio ARTS & CULTURE. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  15. ^ "THE KNOXVILLE MUSEUM OF ART HAS UNVEILED A SITE-SPECIFIC LIGHT INSTALLATION BY SAN ANTONIO-BASED ARTIST BILL FITZGIBBONS. THE WORK CONSISTS OF PROGRAMMED LED LIGHTS PLACED ALONG THE KMA'S NORTH FACADE THAT TRANSFORMS THE BUILDING INTO A SHIFTING CANVAS OF COLORED LIGHT EVERY NIGHT THROUGH THE END OF 2010". Knoxville museum of art. September 16, 2010.
  16. ^ Bennett, Steve (January 7, 2013). "Artwork shines in healing process". MySA.
  17. ^ "Culebra Park Plaza". City of San Antonio ARTS & CULTURE. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  18. ^ Marks, Michael (April 29, 2016). "New Public Art Centro Chroma Tower Illuminates Transportation Plaza". San Antonio Current.
  19. ^ Silva, Elda (March 31, 2016). "San Antonio artist's 'Kinetic Skyline' will light up downtown building Thursday". MySA.
  20. ^ Doris, Tony (July 31, 2018). "West Palm's latest art: Illuminating colors for dealership garage". The Palm Beach Post.
  21. ^ Genocchio, Benjamin (December 30, 2007). "Really? It's all made of glass?". The New York Times.
  22. ^ "The State of Sculpture: Work by the Texas Sculpture Group". MutualArt. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  23. ^ "UT Graduates, Renowned Artists Receive Accomplished Alumni Award". The University of Tennessee Knoxville. September 20, 2010.
  24. ^ "Building a Partnership: 2014 CODAawards Celebrate Multidisciplinary Design". Interior Design. August 28, 2014.
  25. ^ "ARTS & LETTERS AWARDS". Friends of the San Antonio Public Library. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  26. ^ "News Roundup, June 24, 2022". Arts Alive San Antonio. June 24, 2022.

Further reading

  • A Companion to Curation. United Kingdom, Wiley, (2019): 340.
  • Decker, Julie. Icebreakers: Alaska’s Most Innovative Artists. (1999). Samhwa Printing Co., Seoul, Korea. ISBN 0-9670709-0-2
  • The Economic Power of Public Art: Published by CODAworx. N.p. Codaworx, (2025)
  • Fantastique, Marco. Public Art Now. (2016). Hong Kong: Sandu Publishing Co. ISBN 978-988-14261-1-6
  • Maeda, Fukusaburo. Public Art Proposals. (1992). Koij Odahara for the International Contemporary Art Fair, Japan.
  • Stouffer, Hanna. Lust for Light. (2018). Gingko Press, China. ISBN 978-1-58423-681-8
  • Texas Sculpture Group. Contemporary Texas Sculpture. (2025). Litho Press, San Antonio, TX.
  • Williams, Alena J. and Lee, Pamela M. Nancy Holt: Sightlines. United States, University of California Press, (2015): 276.
  • Wolff, Nelson W. The Changing Face of San Antonio: An Insider's View of an Emerging International City. United States, Trinity University Press, (2018). ISBN 978-1-59534-847-0
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