Contemporary Sculptors of Chicago - Ed McCullough..

Meridian VIII..
Commissioned outdoor stainless steel piece for Dominican University, River Forest, IL..
Installed: 2006..


Meridian VII..
Commissioned outdoor stainless steel piece by Chicago Public Art Program for Chicago Police HQ Building, 35th Street and Michigan Ave..
Installed: 2002.



Continuing with my Series on Contemporary Sculptors of Chicago..
Today I met Ed McCullough..
Before I could meet him, the dismal Murphy's Law [that anything that can go wrong, does go wrong] was at full play.. The weather was dark and gloomy with intermittent showers and I was almost about to cancel our meeting, when a slight sliver of sunshine made me change my decision. But then my GPS would not recognize the address [I am very poor with directions, and am helpless without GPS]. Finally it did, but then, the traffic was woefully slow, ushered in by rain combined with gapers delay, with a four car accident on I-90. To top it, I took a few wrong turns [Yeah, despite the GPS!].. After much delay, I finally did reach Dominican University, where I was to meet the artist/sculptor Ed McCullough. I was meeting Ed for the first time and I was already very late. But once I was there, the Ed-Effect dispelled all the Murphy's Law, and all the problems were history.

The very courteous and jovial Ed forgave all my delays, and then, began a very interesting discussion on the public art scene of Chicago and sculptures in general. I have to say that the sculpture community of Chicago is a very friendly community, where each one seems to know each-other. Ed talked very fondly of the contributions of sculptors like Richard Hunt, Preston Jackson, Terrence Karpowicz, Christine Rojek, Adrian Calderon and many others, who endeavor to enrich Chicago sculpture community not only through their art, but also through their willingness to help others in the community..


Meridian VIII


Meridian VII

Ed McCullough specializes in large-scale outdoor sculptures. His works is mostly abstract, and have a lot of arcs and circles. In his words; They stake out boundaries and make connections with what is not there - the open spaces in and around the places people gather.

Worth noting is that Ed McCullough, served in US Navy [1955-59], submarine duty, North Atlantic. He later earned MA degree in art. He has taught at many places and currently teaches at Columbia College, Chicago.

I have seen two of Ed's works, both are part of his Meridian series [Meridian VII and Meridian VIII, images above]. He is currently working on the Meridian IX, a State of Illinois commission that is scheduled for installation in the Spring of 2011 at Kankakee Community College, in Kankakee, Illinois..

For more.. click on the link..
# Contemporary Sculptors of Chicago..
# Meridian VIII..
# Meridian VII..