The RYA Apartment development in Richfield, Minnesota had its official opening on August 25, 2022. The RYA development includes three sculptures.
The Urban Cattails are the creation of Remo Campopiano and Justin Hossle. They are at the northern and southern ends of the development. The sculpture entitled Breeze is by Foster Willey. Breeze is near the center of the RYA development. The RYA opportunity was organized by Northeast Sculpture | Gallery Factory and its director, John Hock.
The call for proposals went out in September of 2021 for the three sculptures. Campopiano and Hossle applied for one of the three. “Boy, were we surprised when they wanted two sets of cattails, one of them bigger than we proposed. Public art at this scale was fairly new to us.” Campopiano went on to say, “Luckily we had a lot of friends and the resources of John Hock and NE Sculpture to help us through it.”
The “Urban Cattails” are made of galvanized steel and cedar wood. There are five twenty four foot cattails on the Southern end of the RYA Apartment development. On the northern end there are three ten-foot cattails.
“Breeze” is a lyrical sculpture inspired by the natural phenomena of a gentle and moderate wind. The sculpted element is made of two inch welded tube steel with a silver powder coat finish. The column is made from welded Corten steel with the curved relief pattern on all four sides. The height of the sculpture is fifteen feet. The intent is a graceful, uplifting expression that enhances the entryway to the RYA Development and adjacent retail area. Willey commented, “It was a pleasure to be back in the Twin Cities working with John Hock of Northeast Sculpture, Ben Janssens at Sign Minds, and long time friend Stephan Faltesek.”
Breeze by Foster Willey