Precocious. That word pretty well describes Sean Mueller’s ’15 career as a professional artist so far.
Mueller, who graduated from the College in May 2015, has already installed two public sculptures and will add a third next month. And, he’s been asked to create a similar piece for an exhibition in Atlanta. Busy might be a better word to describe Mueller’s career.
Sean Mueller ’15 and Jarod Charzewski’s Bicycle Carousel on display in North Charleston’s Riverfront Park.
During his final year at the College, Mueller collaborated with sculpture professor Jarod Charzewski to create three large sculptures, two of which are now on display in North Charleston’s Riverfront Park and Colorado Springs’ Transit Gallery. He will install a third piece in Newport Beach, Calif., in August.
Each of these three pieces is bicycle themed and two of them are kinetic, meaning they move by way of people turning the cranks. Mueller and Charzewski applied for and received a MAYS grant (Major Academic Year Support) from the College to support this work.
“When we learned that we would be receiving the funding, we decided to have celebratory lunch and discuss the details of our project,” explains Mueller. “At lunch, I can remember Jarod saying, ‘Do you like bicycles?’ And we realized right there that this would be the focus of our work.”
Both Mueller and Charzewski love riding bikes, he says, but more than that, “We also recognize how important bicycles are to Charleston and other areas. And we realized that what makes bicycles so great is they are both individual and universal. People take a tremendous amount of pride in their bikes, and there are cycling communities that get together and ride and work on their bikes as well. In addition to that, we chose to use recycled bicycles for our pieces because we wanted to show people that the bikes still had life left in them. In many ways, bikes are becoming a symbol of sustainability, especially in Charleston.”
Charzewski (left) and Mueller installing the Bicycle Carousel.
Another of Mueller’s wheel-themed creations serves as a “chandelier” in Charleston’s D’Allesandro’s Pizza on St. Philip St., which is co-owned by alum Ben D’Allessandro ’05.
“After we built and installed the Bicycle Carousel in North Charleston,” says Mueller, “the guys from D’Allesandro’s contacted us and commissioned me to build a sculpture for their restaurant. So, my second semester senior year was pretty much consumed by that project.”
If that isn’t enough engagement, Mueller also collaborated with designer Julie Le to develop a line of women’s apparel that was featured at Charleston Fashion Week this past spring.
During the coming year, Mueller says he’ll continue working on his art by pursuing commissions and submitting proposals. “I’ll also be looking for the right masters of fine arts program to attend the following year,” he says.
Somehow, you just know he’ll be readily accepted.
