Dish-Houston

Veterans Day is just around the corner on Nov. 11 and is a special day set aside to remember the men and women of the nation’s armed forces. Houston-based artist and sculptor, Lori Betz of Betz Art Foundry, was chosen to do exactly that in a very special way. She was commissioned to create five sculptures for the Veterans Memorial Park in Tampa, Fla., two of which have already been completed and installed.

Veterans Memorial Park is separated into different areas, all of which exhibit different messages of appreciation and serve as tribute to national heroes. The first sculpture, created for the park’s Iraqi Veterans Memorial area, is centered around the theme of “All gave some. Some gave all.”

“I am so honored and proud to be a part of this project. It’s a privilege to show our military personnel and their families how much we appreciate their sacrifices,” Betz says.   

Battle Cross - Artist Lori Betz

For the piece, Betz created a 6-foot-tall battle cross. The sculpture exhibits an artist’s depiction of the cross made upon the battlefield when a soldier dies in action. It is made of a soldier’s boots, gun, helmet and dog tags. The dog tags hanging from the battle cross bear the name of the first fallen soldier in the Iraqi campaign while the other side has the name of the last soldier to fall in the campaign. This monumental sculpture is set upon a 7-foot-tall cement plinth that has three large bronze reliefs attached to its sides.

The next sculpture commissioned for the Veterans Memorial Park is for the park’s Committed Forces area.

“For this piece, the theme I came up with is entitled, ‘Our Troops Protecting Freedom Around The World.’ It will feature a 5-foot bronze globe of the world set upon a tall cement plinth that will have four figurines around the base. Each figurative sculpture will represent a different branch of the armed forces,” Betz describes of the next phase in production.

Betz has also designed miniature versions of the larger sculptures that have been installed. She has donated them to help raise money for the park and for other veterans’ charities.  She recently donated one of these maquettes to Helping a Hero, which earned thousands of dollars for the piece during a silent benefit auction. All of the proceeds will be used to build new homes for returning heroes.   

 Betz creates all of her sculptures in her studio and bronze art foundry in the heart of the Downtown Arts District in Houston. Besides creating monumental commemorative sculptures, the Betz Art Foundry team of artists also creates custom architectural works and fountains for some of the most prestigious homes in Texas.

For more information about Lori Betz, view the Betz Art Foundry website.

Artist Lori Betz

Opening November 11, 2012 and on view through February 10, 2013 is the Ewan Gibbs: Arlington National Cemetery at the Lower Brown Corridor, Caroline Wiess Law Building, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

This exhibition of drawings and photographs opens on Veterans Day and recognizes the impact of a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. British artist Ewan Gibbs (born 1973) trained his expert eye on the iconic site to create a series of 16 drawings based on photographs taken during previous visits. The exhibition also presents 36 photographs from the MFAH collection by artists who served as inspiration to Gibbs.

On display together, the drawings and photographs underscore Gibbs’s interest in visual perception, specifically the role the human eye plays in viewing and processing visual material.

This exhibition was conceptualized by the late MFAH curator Barry Walker. The exhibition is organized by Yasufumi Nakamori, MFAH -associate curator for photography; and Rebecca Dunham, MFAH curatorial assistant for prints and drawings.

Generous funding for this exhibition and its accompanying catalogue is provided by the following donors in memory of Barry Walker: John Blackmon and John Roberson; Jeanne and Michael Klein; Lora Reynolds and Quincy Lee; Scurlock Foundation; Lynn Goode and Harrison Williams; Lea Weingarten; and Kelty and Rogers Crain.

Additional support is provided by Amanda and Glenn Fuhrman and Tassy and Mitch Beasley.