Fulton Mall Public Art

"Big A" - bronze and aluminum by Peter Voulkos (1924-2002)

Approximately ten feet in height, "Big A" is an abstract sculpture consisting of a collection of highly polished bronze half spheres resting on an aluminum frame. Upon installation of the piece on August 19, 1965, the sculptor told the Fresno Bee, "It just means itself. It doesn't represent anything but the culmination of ideas I had when I made it."

Peter Voulkous was born in Bozeman Montana in 1924, and lived in the Bay Area. He received degrees from Montana State and the California College of Arts and Crafts. Orginally a painter, Voulkous later turned to sculpture, and is best known for his ceramics. In the early late 1950's he was selected to start the ceramics program at UC Berkeley, where he taught from 1959 to 1985. Prior to his selection by the Mall Art Committee, Voulkous had one man shows at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, The Pasadena Art Museum, Gump's in San Francisco, the Landau Gallery in Los Angeles and at Fresno State.

Location: Fulton Mall at Mariposa Mall