Herb Parker

So for the last 45 years I've been doing sort of architectonic sculptural elements with mostly natural materials. The idea of building something from nature and returning to nature at the end so there was no product or artifact, always kind of appealed to me. Shovel, wheelbarrow, and I could build a large thing and return it back so it didn't damage the landscape and everybody was happy. The State Museum was having a large exhibition, I think it was called 100 Artists 100 Years. Somebody approached me about that about doing an installation on the site and we looked around and the sculpture is "Cupola." And it was built in 1999, constructed of a steel armature frame, covered in a cement, local clay, 30 tons of riprap, and 15 tons of riverstone for the walkways and the interior seating element is one and a half ton boulder we put in the middle. 45 tons of fill dirt, 15 tons of topsoil mixed in that to kind of give it some stability and grass from this area. (It) was meant to be a quiet, contemplative space for people to sit in. It's insulated with much earth and stone. So it's a comfortable place to just exist in for a period of time, very quiet. It took about two weeks, I think, to build it on site. And of course, the hottest time of the year we were out here in the bottom of the edge of the parking lot, you know, building this thing. But that just adds to the ambiance of it. This was probably for the State Museum, one of the first times that they maybe tried to incorporate works into the grounds that were not a stationary object sitting somewhere, but that was a first exploration into using the landscape. The State Museum wanted something that would be around for a while, that would last for a while. So that's the choice of materials for, you know, the masonry stone and the cement were choices made to ensure the longevity of it. (It'll) probably be there as long as I am, I'm getting old. But, you know, it just will probably last longer than I will.