New ‘Archer’ sculpture by John Henry to be dedicated Feb. 24 at Rice

Rice University will dedicate “Archer,” a new permanent installation by acclaimed American sculptor John Henry, at 5 p.m. Feb. 24.

A rendering of John Henry’s “Archer.” Courtesy: Rice Public Art

The bright red, 14-foot-tall aluminum sculpture will be in the outdoor area between Brockman Hall for Physics and George R. Brown Hall.

Henry will be present for the dedication and make brief remarks at 5:15 p.m. with Alison Weaver, executive director of Rice’s Moody Center for the Arts. Henry will supervise the installation process on campus beginning Feb. 23.

Henry’s large-scale works have been commissioned and acquired for public viewing by numerous institutions and public art programs over the past five decades. Influenced by constructivist and minimalist principles, Henry’s “Archer” will complement Rice’s public art collection, which features works by Jaume Plensa, James Surls and Michael Heizer.

The acquisition of Henry’s work was made possible through a gift to Rice by Houston arts patrons Leslie and Brad Bucher, who graduated from Rice in 1969 and 1965, respectively.

Born in Kentucky, Henry received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1969 and is the recipient of many awards, fellowships and other honors, including four National Endowment for the Arts grants and a Governor’s National Award in the Arts for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He has served on the board of trustees of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts since 1991 and on the board of the International Sculpture Center since 1996. His work is in numerous museum collections, including the Fort Worth Modern, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and the Smithsonian Institution.

For more information on public art at Rice, visit http://publicart.rice.edu.