I enjoy meeting artists as I travel across the US and Canada. To my pleasant surprise, after emailing Barbara Grygutis for permission to feature her work on my last post, I received an affirmative answer to my request for a studio visit.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Barbara Grygutis' studio — © 2018 Louise Levergneux, Barbara Grygutis' studio

Her studio in Tucson is at the back of a historic building inside a greenish cage, as Barbara calls it. It was a delight to walk through the wood and glass doors and enter Barbara’s space.

The studio is considerable and airy, with multiple areas, each with a different purpose: spot for the printer, a place for administration, a corner for the computer-assisted design specialist who turns her ideas and designs into computerized renderings. A large shelf with archives of maquettes/models and workstations everywhere... I was given a complete tour of her studio and the first look at some of Barbara’s up-coming public sculptures.

Stuff is widely distributed and filled with the characteristics of Barbara’s work and personality.

Amazed to see the architectural drawings and maquettes for such work as Front Row Center and Sonoran Passage in Tucson.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Barbara Grygutis' studio, maquette for Front Row Center — © 2018 Louise Levergneux, Barbara Grygutis' studio, maquette for Front Row Center

Large drawings of new work in progress covered windows and walls. Notes or changes had been made directly on the drawings. The stories and connection to their environment were shared... We talked about the desert and how it related to some of the pieces as in Sonoran Passage where pleated and tapered columns look like stylized saguaros.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Barbara Grygutis' studio, sketches and images for Sonoran Passage — © 2018 Louise Levergneux, Barbara Grygutis' studio, sketches and images for Sonoran Passage

I went back on 22nd Street to view Sonoran Passage from below the Parkway. These works of art are best viewed at all angles to understand the connection and interaction to the spaces.