60 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com TAKING RISKS AT SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK An interview with John Hatfield, Executive Director ONSITE DOCTORS • EYE EXAMS • CONTACTS • 1 HOUR SERVICE • VISION PLANS ACCEPTED • SUNGLASSES • LOWEST PRICES 2 PAIR OF EYEGLASSES QC QC QC $59 Includes: EYE EXAM, Frames & Lenses Select frames with clear plastic, single vision lenses+/- 4 sph., 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 10/15/13 NO-LINE BIFOCAL EYEGLASSES $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, No-Line Bifocal Lenses & Frame Select frame with select clear plastic no-line bifocal lenses +/- 4 sph., 2 cyl up to 2.50 add. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 10/15/13 DISPOSABLE CONTACTS $99 Includes: •EYE EXAM •2 Boxes of Lenses Clear Soft contacts brand clear spherical lenses. Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer ends: 10/15/13 BAY TERRACE SHOPPING CENTER 211-51 26 AVENUE • BAYSIDE, NY 11360 718.631.3699 *FREE with the purchase of glasses. Contact Lens Exam and EYE EXAM tting add’l. *See store for details. QC FLEX SPENDING Use it or lose it! AMAZING SAVINGS of the 2013 THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com buzz BY ALAN CAPPER “We believe in taking risks with what we show. We also have to counter the negative feelings about art today by providing openness and access to stimulating work,” says John Hatfi eld, Executive Director of Long Island City’s Socrates Sculpture Park. He was standing in the center of the park two days before the opening of the new show, EAF13, emerging artists and fellows, with 15 new pieces being shown. The park is looking very attractive, even with artists and workers putting the fi nal touches on their work. This once barren piece of landscape has become a real mixed art center under Hatfi eld’s leadership. During this time the park has staged yoga and Tai Chi, a series of foreign fi lms in conjunction with Manhattan’s Film Forum, Little Bastille Day and Opera and Shakespeare on the Waterfront, all of which have boosted the garden’s attendance and enhanced its reputation. “It certainly was a barren place,” says Hatfi eld. ”Although it is in a spectacular position at the confl uence of the Harlem and East Rivers, this four-and-ahalf acre site was used as a landfi ll and illegal dumping site, with no trees at all.” Interestingly, the area had one asset that linked it to sculpture and that was good quality of stone. That was one of the things that persuaded Noguchi to set up his studio there. Hatfi eld is justifi ably proud of the remarkable coalition of the artists and community leaders under the leadership of sculptor Mark Di Suvero, who had the vision and tenacity to persuade the city to allow it to be turned into a sculpture park. He believes that alongside the Noguchi Museum and the Sculpture Center, Long Island City has become the sculpture center of the city. He is himself a sculptor, although these days it is for private pleasure only. “I no longer have the pressure of having to sell my work,” he says. “I am a facilitator and I have two curators who initially select the work, and I do not always like what has been chosen. I have a simple method of evaluating an artist’s work -- should this be seen, and what does it communicate?” He believes that his background more than prepared him to face the challenges and opportunities he must now deal with. He describes himself as an “army brat,” having seen a great deal of the country through his father’s travels and postings. He was always attracted to sculpture, and eventually spent 17 years at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in Manhattan, eventually becoming its deputy director. With his sensitivity to the anxieties and needs of the artists and the skills he has acquired in strategic planning and management, he has an excellent combination of abilities to manage the park, which does not charge admission fees, is open 365 days a year and is in constant need of donations for its survival and future growth. “What I love about this park is its space, its openness, and particular moments of rare beauty, for example when the light changes, or it begins to rain. It is a perfect place to show sculpture and to encourage connection with art in its broadest sense and in the specifi c. One of the things I am most proud of is the free education we provide for 8,000 children, and grown ups too. I say ‘come here, see enjoy, admire, dislike’ make art part of the fabric of your life.” Hatfi eld is a man who considers art at two levels, the fi rst the management and success of the Socrates Sculpture Park. “We take risks, but the greater risks are taken by the artists themselves when they fi nally expose their work to the public.” The second is another passion. “We have to break the cycle of how art is being displaced in our lives,” he says.
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