Star Garden

Star Garden Memorial A world-famous sculptor is a member of Congregation Kol Ami. His name is Bradley Arthur and he designed and created the Memorial Sculpture and Garden at our front entrance. Other works are in collections across the United States and in Switzerland, France, Austria, and Italy. Exhibition sites have included the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, the Lincoln Center in New York City, and the Grand Palais in Paris. A number of Arthur’s works from the Richard Brown Baker Collection are now at Yale. Artist Bradley Arthur resides in Land O’ Lakes with his wife Jane, who is a social worker. They have two children who are in college. Ethan is a student at Florida State University and Emily studies at Pasco-Hernando Community College. The family’s pet is Spike, their dog. Bradley was born in Tampa and raised in Miami Beach. At age seventeen he had his first class working with metal at the Coconut Grove School of Art, and from there his imagination and talent flourished. After returning to Tampa to earn his B.A. from the College of Fine Arts at the University of South Florida, Arthur attended the Lacoste School of the Arts in Lacoste en Provence, France. His education includes apprenticeships with master artists in metal, stone, and bronze, in Miami, Florida; Paris, France; Pietrastanta, Italy; and New York City, New York.

CNN Headline News did a feature story entitled Turning Guns Into Art, which showcased Components of Public Safety (COPS) I and II, by Bradley Arthur. These two outdoor public art sculptures were made from melted gunmetal and stainless steel. The gunmetal was produced from guns and other weapons collected by the Cease-Fire of Tampa Bay’s gun buy-back program and the Tampa Sheriff’s Office. Arthur sensitively used his artistic genius to put the once-deadly objects to good use. Within the circle of each sculpture is an open five-point star, the shape of a sheriff’s badge. On COPS II, which is located at the Tampa Sheriff’s Office on Gunn Highway, the uppermost component shape is missing and is lying beside it. Arthur did this to symbolize fallen heroes and the subtitle of his work is Homage to the Fallen Hero. Using a diversity of materials and keen social insights, his artwork connects us to the universal issues of our lives. Bradley Arthur also makes thought-provoking and innovative word sculptures. You can see some of these original works at artwit.com. In his series Shadow Thoughts, he uses steel nails, light, and shadows to create these masterpieces. See IDOL WARSHIP and IDLE WARSHIP below, where the word WARSHIP is merely a shadow on the wall. Words become objects and the viewer’s perspective is shifted. Take one look at Frontline, a sculpture made from cast bronze toy soldiers in the formation of “ENOUGH,” you will know exactly how this artist feels about war. He puts “PEACE” on a pedestal, a bouquet made from crowbars, barbed wire, and nails. He celebrates the perpetuation of life with his bronze sculpture, Generations, of a mother, father, and babe embracing one another. Generations is located at Douglas Gardens, the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged. Every work by Arthur represents his depth of commitment and is a labor-of-love. Those related to his Jewish heritage give him boundless energy to embrace spiritual opportunities. The six-pointed star of Kol Ami’s Memorial Sculpture and Garden began as a styrofoam model and was transformed into a granite and stainless steel sculpture on a marble base. Its symmetry is totally harmonious and the work is timeless and priceless. It will have significant meaning for all generations. The front and back are each composed of six colors of granite which are dependent upon one another to maintain its star shape; they work together like the twelve tribes of Israel.

Look closely at the markings of each color and see the bursting continuity of life, like galaxies reaching infinitum. Look through the center opening and see how visions remain the same and change at the same time. Feel the everlasting relationship of God and Jews. Then step away and study the solid steel side-view, a void glimpse compared to the excitement in the life of the granite. Mini-originals of the Kol Ami Star sculpture are on display at Congregation Kol Ami and are available for purchase. Proceeds will be donated to Kol Ami. More of Bradley Arthur’s work can be seen at st2p.com and bradarthur.com.