G.WIZ TO RECEIVE MAJOR SCULPTURE EXHIBIT
The Sarasota-based science museum is negotiating to become the permanent home
for Jim Gary’s Twentieth Century Dinosaurs
Sarasota, FL, September 22, 2009: Molly Demeulenaere, director of G.WIZ Museum, and Kafi Benz, the studio director of Jim Gary’s Twentieth Century Dinosaurs, have announced that negotiations are in progress to bring the entire traveling exhibition of Jim Gary dinosaur sculptures to Sarasota (from Gary’s New Jersey studio) for a permanent home at G.WIZ. Gary was known for a body of work that included these large, colorful creations of dinosaurs made from discarded automobile parts. These sculptures have been exhibited in such major museums as the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.; the National Academy Museum & School of Fine Arts in New York City; The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia; the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh; and The Field Museum in Chicago.
Born in Florida, Gary was raised and worked throughout most of his career in Colts Neck, New Jersey. He died in 2006. His fine art ranges from life-sized figures such as “Universal Woman,” which is composed entirely of hardware, to abstract sculpture, furniture, and works of table-top size. His sculpture is represented in corporate and private collections around the world. Benz emphasizes that retaining the exhibition as a single collection is her objective. “These delightful sculptures have traveled around the world together for more than three decades,” says Benz. “The exhibition has been booked by museums and other venues as far away as Australia and Japan. We feel that G.WIZ will be the perfect home for it.”
The large dinosaurs and the other critters in the exhibition were created by assembling automobile parts and hardware that fit exactly into Gary’s sculptures without alteration. “The exhibition is as popular with the general public as it is with professional artists and art collectors,” says Benz. “It’s been shown in fine art museums, botanical gardens, on college campuses, at automobile shows, and at trade shows for metal arts.”
In 1990, during the peak of Gary’s career, the traveling exhibition was given a solo show at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History, which, according to Benz, “drew record-breaking attendance.” Smithsonian museum director, Larry O’Reilly, stated in a 2006 tribute to Gary that his dinosaurs were “fun, clever, warm and approachable by kids—a perfect compromise between art and science.”
Gary was a benefactor to many nonprofit organizations, often providing his exhibition for fundraising events without a fee. G.WIZ is envisioned as the permanent home for the exhibition, but a home from which it also may continue to travel in order to raise funds for the museum and delight new audiences around the world as well as in Sarasota.
How can people help ensure that G.WIZ becomes the permanent home for Jim Gary’s Twentieth Century Dinosaurs? The museum is offering individual and business sponsorship and donor opportunities. Call Molly Demeulenaere for more information: 941-309-4949, Ext. 101.
For more information about Jim Gary’s Twentieth Century Dinosaurs, contact Kafi Benz at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit the Jim Gary website at www.kafi-benz.com. For more information about this press release, call Cathy McLaughlin, at 941-309-4949, Ext. 109, or email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit www.GWIZ.org.
About G.WIZ
G.WIZ, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, was founded in 1990 and moved into its current facility, with its striking glass atrium, in 2000. Since 2001, G.WIZ has been a partner of the Exploratorium, San Francisco’s renowned hands-on museum. G.WIZ is a member of the Association of Science and Technology Centers, the Florida Association of Museums, and the Science and Environment Council of Sarasota County. The museum is located in Sarasota’s bayfront cultural district at The Blivas Science & Technology Center, 1001 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota, Florida 34236. For more information, visit www.gwiz.org or call 941-309-4949.
