"Ocean Embrace"

This article continues a monthly series about the artworks and artists chosen for Community Corner at Sculpture Park at the corner of 79th Street and Niwot Road.

This month’s focus is “Ocean Embrace” by artist Glenn Murgacz. “Ocean Embrace” is made of quarter-inch stainless steel and features two figures reaching for one another and arcing down into a graceful wave. The piece is nestled in the trees on the south side of the park, where it creates a sense of continuity and wholeness. “Ocean Embrace” was the winner of Niwot’s People’s Choice Award and the artist received a $250 stipend. 

Hailing from New Jersey, Murgacz attended Middlesex College and Fairleigh Dickinson University. He calls himself an autodidact (or self-taught) artist and draws his inspiration from the works of Picasso and Giacometti. He is compelled by a passion for creating monumental sculptures, especially those that will be placed in open spaces to be enjoyed by all. 

“Murgacz is most fascinated by the human form and creates it in natural, ethereal and primitive representations. The works are surprising, provocative and delightfully unpredictable,” (steelingbeauty.com). 

His pieces have been as diverse in size as in style, ranging from tiny delicate dancers and woodland faeries, to massive keg-toting beer gods and spear-bearing warriors. Most pieces are designed to work in outdoor environments with the intent to weather with the elements.

While his pieces withstand the test of time, they are specifically designed to age and weather, much like a person. This change that can be witnessed over the course of years has a compelling impact. Often art looks new, shiny even, and untouched by human hands. Murgacz’s work is different and it invites the onlooker to find common ground within the art and all that it symbolizes. 

With deep ties to his home state, Murgacz is known for his four stainless steel sports figures on the facade of the Woodbridge Community Center in New Jersey. Additionally, he is renowned for his work with local Montessori School students in several collaborative sculpture projects, welding work with high school students, exhibits in local restaurants and his “Exhibit, Work Shop and Demonstration” at the Barron Arts Center in Woodbridge.

In conjunction with impressive public works, his pieces can be found in several private collections, including the sculpture garden in front of Osmosis Art and Architecture in Niwot. 

Glenn Murgacz’s sculpture, “Ocean Embrace,” can be seen at the Niwot Community Corner at Sculpture Park. The piece is available for purchase.

For more information about the visit www.niwot.com/sculpture and www.steelingbeauty.com