Aristotle's Walk
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| Artist Name(s) | Paul Gregg |
| Artwork title | Aristotle's Walk |
| Context/Background | Following a highly successful Per Cent for Art Commission by Paul Gregg in St. Mary’s CBS Portlaoise, the school subsequently approached the artist to directly commission an additional privately funded artwork,‘Aristotle’s Walk memorial garden, which was completed in 2012. |
| Description | Aristotle's Walk (2012) is a columnar structure which marks the entrance to a memorial garden situated in the central courtyard of St Mary’s CBS, Portlaoise. The columns were fabricated in fibreglass, coated in granite dust, and filled with sand and cement, providing the impression of solid stone columns. The artist also took the opportunity to create a secret chamber within one of the columns, to be used as a time capsule. A stone path was placed into the grass leading into the memorial garden, to give the impression that it was old and had been excavated. The artwork drew inspiration from the design of the new building, and the fact that the school clearly valued their sporting facilities and classrooms. The artist was influenced by the Peripatetic School (a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece) founded by Aristotle, and the Latin phrase Mens sana in Corpore Sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body). As the artist started experimenting with structures pertaining to Greek Philosophy, he desired to create something that could become integrated into a new tradition for the new school. He stated: “I believe the school now has a celebration of their graduating students, and they each get a photo of them walking through the structure as a symbol of them finishing school and heading out into the world”. |
| Biographies | An American artist living in Dublin since 1995, Paul Gregg has exhibited in Europe and the United States. In recent years, the primary focus of his practice has been the creation of large scale commissioned projects. Gregg earned a Bachelors of Arts degree (summa cum laude) from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Masters of Fine Arts from the Rinehart School of Sculpture, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland U.S.A. He was awarded membership to the Phi Beta Kappa honour society (U.S) for his work at UCLA, and received a Fulbright Scholarship to Ireland upon completion of his MFA. He is currently a lecturer at the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology. |
| Commission Type | Schools/Colleges |
| Commissioner Name | St. Mary’s CBS, Portlaoise |
| Commissioning process | Two Stage Competition |
| Project commission dates | January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012 |
| Artform | Visual Arts |
| Funded By | Private |
| Project commission start date | 01/01/2012 |
| Project commission end date | 31/12/2012 |
| Location | St Mary’s CBS Boys Secondary School, Borris Road |
| County | Laois |
| Town | Portlaoise |
| Website | www.paulgreggstudio.com/stmary.php |
| Content contributor(s) | Web Editor and the artist |
