For artist Boyan Marinov, the dedication of the new sculpture in front of NIU’s Stevens Building was a full circle moment.
The new artwork that he designed and titled “The Tribesman, The Hero and The Light” was revealed with a ribbon cutting ceremony, September 26. As he watched from the sidewalk, he was standing between his own sculpture and one from the man who convinced him to try his hand at art in the first place.
The other sculpture, “Pyramus and Thisbe Rising Over Snowy Peaks” has been a fixture in the middle of campus for nearly 35 years. The artist, Terrence Karpowicz just happens to be the owner of the studio space Marinov rents in Chicago.
A furniture builder by trade, Marinov says that Karpowicz had long suggested that his skills would also make him a fine artist, but it wasn’t until an economic downturn in 2008 that he gave it a try.
“I wasn’t getting as many furniture orders for a time and so I took Terry’s suggestion,” Marinov said. “I made my first piece and it was a success. I still have a daily job, but now I do this on the side.”
Marinov has several sculptures displayed in Chicago, and one in front of the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. Soon Rock Valley College in Rockford will unveil a sculpture of his on their campus.
Marinov’s sculpture and Karpowicz’s both incorporate large circles in their design, and complement each other well, but Marinov says that wasn’t by design.
Artist Boyan Marinov standing in front of his design, “The Tribesman, The Hero and The Light” and the work of his friend, mentor and landlord, Terrence Karpowicz, “Pyramus and Thisbe Rising Over Snowy Peaks.”
After responding to a request for proposal through the State of Illinois’ Art in Architecture program, that requires large scale projects like the Stevens Building renovations have a public art component, Marinov came to campus as one of three finalists. He discussed his concept with a university committee that would make the selection.
As he toured the space in front of the building where the new artwork would be installed, he saw the existing sculpture. “I had no idea it was Terry’s,” he said. “But I recognized the style. So when I went back to Chicago I asked him if he had a piece at NIU and he said he did, right in front of the theater building.”
And now Marinov does, too.
