CMOSC, the Children's Museum of Sonoma County, has received funding for an outdoor sculpture that will be placed in a prominent location on the museum grounds. This sculpture will be a featured part of CMOSC's major expansion project, which is to be completed by 2027.
The Ratto family, who previously owned The Ratto Group - until its sale to Recology of San Francisco - was respnsible for waste management and recycling in Sonoma County for decades. Because of their interrest in reuse, the sculpture must be composed of repurposed, reclaimed, found, or otherwise non-new material. The focus is on an aesthetic that highlights the former life of the materials while also breathing a new life into their collective form.
There are two areas of content consideration for the work: it must be manually kinetic or interactive; and it must evoke living form. Influences include autotamata, whirlygigs, robots, humans, animals, plants, aliens, etc. Fun is a primary feature, and safety is paramount, as this is for young children.
The scale of the work is that it chould be fairly large, or monumental in scale, somewhere in the range of 8-15 feet tall, and round 6' in width and depth, including any plinth. This is a boundary limitation, meaning that the sculpture can be bulky or delicate, but must have a strong visual presence to compete with its oudoor surroundings.
The work must be structually sound.
Interactive elements include levers, pull arms, knobs, dials, wheels, etc, which are manually operable. They must be strong and secure, yet easily manipulated by young children.
Easily maintained pivot points or sliding elements are important. Mechanical objects wear out and break down, and must maintenance of the elements must be accommodated so that museum staff can keep the artwork functioning for decades to come.
