Caudill created and recently gave to the Kent School of Social Work a piece to honor his wife, a 1991 Kent School alumna and a longtime social worker. She retired in 2004 after serving for 32 years and in many roles at the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. She worked in the Jefferson Region of the state agency’s Department for Community-based Services.
The 12-foot-tall work, The Balance of Dreams and Plans, was dedicated May 20 in a ceremony outside Oppenheimer Hall on the west side of Belknap Campus.
Atop a black metal pedestal, the abstract stainless-steel artwork is the centerpiece of the JoAnn Harrison Rose Garden and brick-paved Oppenheimer Hall plaza.
In social work, dreams and plans must come together to provide the best outcomes for our families, Harrison said. It makes me very happy to know we’ve been able to leave a lasting legacy to the university that has given me so much.
Caudill and Harrison wanted to place the sculpture near the Kent School building so students there could 鈥渃onsider a life well-spent鈥 in their future profession.
The couple also gave Kent School a collection of books and framed photographs that illustrate people helped by social workers.
鈥淭he Balance of Dreams and Plans鈥 joins other Caudill sculptures on campus. One large piece titled 鈥淪ymphony of Notes鈥 adorns the front entrance. Another piece, 鈥淭he Search for Musical North,鈥 hangs in the lobby.
The works I’ve done are almost totally abstract,鈥 Caudill said the day the piece was installed. 鈥淚’m just looking for a form and a sense of lyricism which appeals to me. When a piece feels right, it’s done.
It’s not just the form but all the internal spaces, the sense of space. It’s almost a tangible thing. It’s a lyricism鈥 It’s like music that doesn’t have any words; it’s a feeling.
Observers, he said, just need to be open to feeling it.
