Commissioned by Spokane Public Radio, this
Harold Balazs sculpture is an abstraction of a human ear. Interestingly, it is an ear that doesn't listen to music, but creates it. During its unveiling in September of 2016 percussionists from the Spokane Symphony actually "played" the sculpture, a
VIDEO of which can be found on the Spokane Public Radio website.
The first section of Fire Station #3, no longer with us, was a wood framed building erected in 1894. An addition was made to the rear, this time built of brick, in 1912 and, in 1917, the wooden front section was torn down and a brick building was constructed in its place, attached to the 1912 section. While Station No. 3 survived downsizing of the department at the start of the Great Depression, it was finally retired in 1991. It became a commercial building and is today the home of
Spokane Public Radio, who renovated the station in 2004 and moved in shortly thereafter.
Harold Balazs Sculpture Rings
Spokane artist Harold Balazs had a crazy idea.
While creating the steel sculpture Spokane Public Radio had commissioned for the Fire Station No. 3 Courtyard, he realized the different components would ring with different tones when gently struck.
Why not get a few percussionists to “play” the artwork?
In September 2016, SPR held a small ceremony to dedicate the Jim Sheehan Family Courtyard at the new broadcast facility in the historic Fire Station No. 3. This move to a new facility “rang in” a new era of service. Spokane Symphony percussionists Bryan Bogue, Paul Raymond and Adam Wallstein volunteered to do the striking. Jim Sheehan and Family looked on with Harold Balazs and friends as the percussionists improvised a six-minute piece on “Listen,” the sculpture Balazs fashioned to abstractly suggest a human ear.
From Spokane Public Radio