DeVos Art Lecture features internationally renowned sculptor and printmaker

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The annual DeVos Art Lecture at Grand Valley State University will feature British-born Dutch artist Cyril Lixenberg, who recently completed the 33-foot steel tall sculpture, titled, "Steel Water," located next to the new JW Marriot Hotel in downtown Grand Rapids, on the banks of the Grand River. This monumental work was commissioned by the Fluoride Commemorative Committee to mark Grand Rapids' place in history as the first city in the world to fluoridate a public water supply.

Honorary Chair Marcia Knapp Haas and Director of GVSU Galleries and Collections Henry Matthews, welcome the West Michigan community to the presentation, "Journey to Steel Water," on Thursday, October 11.  A warm-up reception with music begins at 5 p.m., followed by the lecture in Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus, located at 401 W. Fulton, Grand Rapids. A wine and cheese reception with the artist will follow his lecture. Admission is free as well as parking in the Mount Vernon lot.

Lixenberg is a prolific contributor to the contemporary art scene in the Netherlands and has enjoyed much critical success in the United States. With work rooted in the tradition of classical modern art from the early 20th century, Lixenberg has built an extensive oeuvre of silkscreen prints, metal sculpture and monumental works. Since the late 1980s Lixenberg has become a familiar member of the West Michigan artistic community exhibiting in Muskegon, Holland and Grand Rapids.

Grand Valley's permanent collection harbors the single largest archive of Lixenberg's work. With more than 300 individual works on paper and sculpture donated by the artist, the Lixenberg Collection represents one of every print produced during the artist's career, and continues to be enhanced with the most recent editions of his prints, sculpture and archival materials.

For more information call (616) 331-2564 or visit www.gvsu.edu/artgallery .