A work created in Rome more than half a century ago is helping another Tuska work find its way back.
In 1970, John Regis Tuska was living and working in Rome with his family, immersed in a city and artistic tradition that would profoundly influence the rest of his life.
During that extraordinary period, Tuska created this intimate image of Pope Paul VI—the Pope seated in white, flanked by two clergy, beneath a dove surrounded by an explosion of radiant light.
It is unmistakably Tuska: spiritual, human, colorful and alive.
More than fifty years later, this work has taken on a remarkable new purpose.
Tuska returned from Italy carrying with him the experience of Roman artists and craftsmen, including the ancient language of bronze casting he encountered in the foundries of Trastevere.
Years later, that artistic journey would help inform the development of one of his most significant sculptural forms: Energy Source.
Today, a new bronze Energy Source is beginning.
At the University of Kentucky Foundry, Tuska's bronze will provide the mold from which a new work will be created through the centuries-old lost-wax process—mold, wax, fire, molten bronze, chasing and patina.
Over the coming months, we will document that creation from beginning to end.
We call it:
Our hope is that this new bronze will ultimately make its way to Rome as a gift—carrying with it not simply the work of John Tuska, but the hands, voices and reflections of the community that helped create it.
And this 1970 image of Pope Paul VI will help make that journey possible.
A prints of Tuska's Pope Paul VI is being offered as part of The Journey Home.
Proceeds from each print will directly support the creation of the new bronze Energy Source.
When you purchase this work, you aren't simply acquiring a Tuska print.
You are helping cast a bronze.
You are helping continue a Kentucky artist's extraordinary connection with Rome.
And you are becoming one of the many hands carrying Energy Source forward.
A work Tuska created in Rome will now help another Tuska work return to Rome.
Non basta una vita.
One lifetime is not enough.
The Journey Home is about more than creating a bronze.
It is about the people whose hands, stories and hopes become part of its journey.
Whether you purchase this print, help support the casting of Energy Source, or simply wish to participate, we invite you to leave a reflection.
Take a quiet moment with three questions:
What experiences, people, places or moments have shaped the person I have become?
What matters to me today? What am I carrying, discovering, questioning or grateful for?
What do I hope for—from myself, from others, and from the world I will help shape?
Write as much or as little as you wish.
A sentence.
A memory.
A prayer.
A hope.
A few words may be enough.
Selected reflections gathered throughout The Journey Home will become part of a Book of Reflections created to accompany Energy Source on its journey.
Imagine that.
Alongside a bronze created by many hands will travel a book filled with many voices.
Students. Teachers. Artists. Collectors. Friends. Families. People of different faiths and people with no particular faith at all.
Each answering the same three human questions.
Each becoming part of the story.
This matters.
A reflection is not a reward for making a contribution.
It is a contribution.
If you purchase a Pope Paul VI print, thank you.
If you help us create the bronze, thank you.
And if all you give us are your words, your memory, your prayer or your hope—
thank you.
You have added something no amount of money could purchase:
your voice.
to the hands of a foundry...
to the hands of a community...
and, we hope, eventually to Rome.**
Help us create the bronze.
Share your reflection.
Become part of The Journey Home.
One lifetime is not enough.
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To use this feature, Just look for the "Live Preview AR" button when viewing any piece of art on this website!
Thank you for your interest in Tuska.
He asked to be shared as an educator, his commissioned studio helps to support our mission of fostering humanity through education
and healing programs. Your purchase helps to support our mission.
Art Heals
Seth
Tuska Legacy Director and Son
"You reach for stars, moons, and planets, which you may never see or never reach, but OK! What an experience to ride one’s life through! The doors that open, the visions that evolve, are not final, but layers that open into future possibilities. Life’s variety has no conclusion, it keeps unraveling.
We reach the center: the sight of what is and what might be!"
American Artist Tuska (1931-1998)
www.Tuska.com
