West Akron artist works magic with light 12/27/2007 - West Side Leader By Kathleen Folkerth Mark Soppeland readies for First Night Akron
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| Soppeland is shown second from left in his 2006 First Night Akron creation, Enchanted Forest, with, from left, Jason Rudolph (aka Crazy Bird), of Akron, and Julie and Jim Miller (aka Bird and Bush), of West Akron. |
Whether it's a discarded floor lamp that he's turned into an illuminated sculpture or a freshman art student in one of his classes at The University of Akron (UA), seeing something change is what this West Akron artist thrives on.
"I'm a magician," Soppeland said. "Transformation has always been part of a magician's repertoire."
Soppeland's latest trick will be unveiled on New Year's Eve. His installation Land of the Midnight Sun will be part of this year's First Night Akron. Soppeland has been soliciting art made with fluorescent colors for the exhibition since summer and has even set up a Web site (www.blacklightexperiment.com) to encourage submissions from throughout the world.
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| Mark Soppeland is shown with some of the fluorescent artwork that will be part of his installation at First Night® Akron this year. |
| Photos: Ken Crisafi |
Soppeland, 55, is no stranger to First Night. He was involved in the initial planning stages of the event more than 12 years ago and was the button artist the second year. Another year he created a "suit of lights" - which now hangs in the basement studio of his West Akron home - for the Akron Art Museum's First Night participation.
"We stopped traffic with that," he said.
The suit is just one example of Soppeland's work with which he delights in amusing onlookers.
"I'm not above creating a good joke or some absolutely beautiful, wondrous piece," Soppeland said. "I've always tried to make work that is extremely accessible or accessible with higher levels of meaning."
He has been interested in using light in his works since the 1960s, he said. His first work, in collaboration with a friend, was a sculpture made out of an engine crankshaft that was lit from within.
Last year at First Night, Soppeland's Enchanted Forest installation in the Main Library was one of the best attended features of the annual New Year's Eve festival in Akron. It featured the suit of lights, animation and many of Soppeland's light sculptures.
The artist himself said he was surprised how many people waited in line for the chance to walk through the exhibit.
"I couldn't believe it," he said. "The great thing about First Night is having people line up and waiting to see my artwork."
Soppeland was born in Panama City, Fla., but "grew up all over" due to his father's service in the U.S. Air Force.
He always loved art.
"I always took my art making very seriously," said Soppeland, who is usually seen wearing his trademark beret. "I can remember in kindergarten being very interested in my projects."
The family lived in Boulder, Colo., during Soppeland's high school years. It was there that he realized he wanted to be an artist and teacher.
"The absolute moment of comprehension happened during the first day of spring semester my senior year in high school," he said, remembering the crowded school he attended. "I had signed up for trigonometry, sat down in the hot trailer, and the teacher started going on about formulas. Five minutes into the lecture I said, ‘I really don't want to do this with my life.' So after class I went to the guidance counselor and dropped it and took a second art class.
"I knew I loved making art and I really didn't love memorizing formulas," he added.
He stayed in Boulder for college at The University of Colorado, where he studied painting and sculpture. Upon graduation in 1974, he headed to The Ohio State University for its master of fine arts program, which he completed in 1976.
When it came time to find a teaching job, Soppeland said he applied anywhere there was an opening - including UA, which he'd never heard of.
"I didn't even know where Akron was," he said.
The school offered him a job and he took it. This year is his 32nd year of teaching in the Myers School of Art. He spends about 20 hours a week in the classroom with his three classes and always teaches at least one freshman class.
"It's an incredible transformative process, what happens to people as they go through college," Soppeland said. "It's a privilege to be part of it."
In 2005, he was named a Distinguished Professor - the highest academic honor - at UA.
"I love it," Soppeland said of being in the classroom. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't teach."
Soppeland also has traveled the world as an artist. In 2002, he spent two months in Eastern Europe as an artist in residence, which was funded through the Ohio Arts Council. He also was invited to serve as a reviewer for Hewlett Packard's "Photo Fest Beijing Meeting Place" in 2006 in Beijing, along with his wife of 20 years, Barbara Tannenbaum, chief curator and head of public programs at the Akron Art Museum. There they joined 30 international scholars, editors and artists to meet with 268 Chinese photographers selected from more than 1,000 applicants.
While Soppeland is admired on campus and in the art world, he also is known locally for the community art projects he has been commissioned to do for local organizations and nonprofits. He admits the first one he was asked to do, A Family of Flying Fantasy Animals, for Akron Children's Hospital in 1993, was a challenge at first.
"They wanted something that had family values, could be sterilized and needed to have the work of 5,000 schoolc
