| George Trakas | |
| Birth Place: | Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
| Nationality: | Canadian and American |
| Training: | New York University, B.S., 1969 |
| Field: | Environmental Sculptor |
George Trakas is a sculptor who was born in Quebec City in 1944 and has lived in New York City since 1963. Many of his projects are site-specific installations, and he describes himself as an environmental sculptor. He often recycles local materials and incorporates them into his work.[1] [2] Trakas taught sculpture at Yale University for 13 years and has also taught at other schools.[3]
Trakas graduated from Sir George Williams University in Montreal and then went on to earn a bachelor's degree in art history at New York University in 1969. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1982,[4] a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1989, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Medal for Sculpture in 1996.[5] Emory University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2011. He also won the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award (2017).[6]
George Trakas married Susan Rothenberg, a painter, in 1971. Their daughter Maggie was born in 1972. They divorced in 1979 but remained close until Rothenberg's death in 2020.[7]
Notable recent examples of Trakas's work include a waterfront nature walk at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Brooklyn, New York; another waterfront installation adjacent to the museum in Beacon, New York; and public art in the New York City Subway at the Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center station.[8] [9]
The following table contains a partial list of works by George Trakas.[10]
| Title | Location | Description | Year | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pont Épée | Thiers, France | Set of walkways and bridges on the Durolle river next to the "Creux-de-l'enfer" | 1985 | [11] |
| Beacon Point | Beacon, New York | Angling deck, boardwalk, & restored bulkhead in Long Dock Park on a 25-acre peninsula adjacent to museum | 2007 | |
| The pathway of love | Santomato, Pistoia | A path made of iron and wood that crosses a romantic forest alongside a stream | 1982 | [12] |
| Shoreline Nature Walkway | Brooklyn, New York | Nature walk adjacent to the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant | 2007 | [13] |
| Hook (Archean Reach), Line (Sea House), and Sinker (Mined Swell) | Brooklyn, New York | Public sculpture inside the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station of the New York City Subway | 2004 | |
| Reconnections | Belmullet, Ireland | Footbridge across a canal in County Mayo that has since been replaced | 1993 | [14] [15] |
| Self Passage | Humlebæk, Denmark | Site-specific sculpture leading to a waterside platform, in the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art's sculpture park. | 1989 | [16] |
| Berth Haven | Seattle, Washington | A cedar and steel lakeside deck on the premises of an NOAA facility. Rests on foundations remaining from the site’s prior use as navy airfield. | 1983 | [17] [18] |
| Route Source | Atlanta, Georgia | Site-specific sculpture in a wooded area of the Emory University campus | 1979 | [19] [20] |