| Peter
Richards, Senior Artist at the Exploratorium Center
and Teaching and Learning, founded with Frank Oppenheimer
the Exploratorium's Artist-in-Residence Program which
commissions artists to create works that addressed the
intersection between art, science, and technology.
With a background in art, Peter's personal work has
been greatly influenced by his association with the
Exploratorium. His work reflects his interest in public
spaces: the way people behave in public places, natural
phenomena, and particularly the dynamic natural elements
that give a place its character and Coming Soonure (water,
wind, sun, shadows, and tides). Locally, his most notable
work is the Wave Organ, which employs wave action and
tide changes to create musical sounds in a series of
pipes that extend down into the water.
In 1998, Peter took a three-year leave to help with
the creation of a new artist community in Charlotte,
North Carolina. Modeled after the Headlands Art Center
in Marin County, California, among others, this community
supports creativity and provides residencies for up
to 24 artists a year. It is housed in a renovated Presbyterian
Church and has machine, wood, and welding shops, a media
and photo lab, many studios (including print and clay),
and an exhibition space.
|
