FLINT, MI.- Flint Institute of Arts (FIA) announced the installation of six large outdoor sculptures. The project titled "Ground Breakers: German Sculptures on the Grounds of the FIA" will be on view from Kearsley Street and the east Gallery Wing grounds of the FIA. Sculptures range in size from thirteen feet tall to nineteen feet wide. The sculptures are the individual creations of six established German sculptors—Klaus Albert, Klaus Duschat, Rolf Nolden, Jan Meyer-Rogge, Markus Schaller, and Hartmut Stielow.

The sculptures arrived disassembled on a flatbed truck, and were installed over a two-day period (May 8-9). The installation required an eighty-five ton crane to move and position the sculptures at their respective locations. Two of the German sculptors, Klaus Duschat, Hartmut Stielow, and Adam Garey, an assistant from the Outdoor Museum of Art (Chattanooga State, Tennessee) along with FIA preparators participated in the installation process.

Four of the sculptures were placed on concrete sculpture pads on the north lawn of the museum, one on the east lawn, and one in the interior sculpture courtyard. These large-scale works enhance the museum’s exterior visual appeal, particularly in the evening when the sculptures are illuminated by ground level lights that create a series of dramatic focal points viewed from street side.

This project is the first in a series of outdoor sculpture exhibitions planned for the museum. Flint Institute of Arts has large outdoor sculptures by George Rickey, Thomas McClure and Jane Manus that are installed in the museum’s expansive sculpture courtyard, as well as several large-scale works that have been featured on the museum’s grounds, including Rick Mayer’s "Dance", Sydney Atkinson’s "Center of Mass", and Joseph McDonnell’s recently installed "School’s Out".

The sculptures are on view during the very active summer and fall months, concurrent with the Flint Art Fair, the Children’s Summer Festival, the American Association of Museum Directors Conference, the 100th anniversary of General Motors, the Sloan Automobile Show, the Salute to Seniors, and the opening of the University of Michigan dormitories adjacent to the Cultural Center.

The sculptures are on loan for approximately one year from the Outdoor Museum of Art at Chattanooga State, Tennessee. The six sculptures premiered in the U.S. in Spring 2005, the first of the Outdoor Museum of Art at Chattanooga State’s international exhibitions, which are intended to promote an understanding and appreciation of the arts worldwide.