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5.14 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 3 3 Collector Al Shands lives in a work of art. By Jon Lee Cope Photos by Ted Tarquinio T he Rev. Al Shands, 85, has often said that being an art collector is akin to throwing a really marvelous dinner party, that when choosing pieces you are looking for works of art that will have a conversation. Each one should have an interior life of its own that brings with it, Shands says, "something wonderful and compelling." He insists that the gathering should include "a few bad boys" to stir the pot, some "beauties" to rest the eye, some thinkers and tinkers and some storytellers. Te setting — the archi- tecture and landscape that are home to this art — will beneft from this, and if pieces are chosen with thought and care they will not be an adornment to the home but a testimony of the very life of those who lived within its walls, a never-ending dialogue, a delight to the senses and a challenge to the intellect. It is the dinner party of a lifetime. Also invited are the artists themselves, great minds whose ideas and vision are evident throughout the home, on 10 acres of rolling Oldham County countryside that Shands and his late wife, Mary Norton Shands, christened "Great Meadows." Shands commissioned sever- al of the works specifcally for Great Meadows. Te names on this invitation list read like a gala at MOMA: Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Alice Aycock, Olafur Eliasson — and the list goes on and on. Many of the artists have spent time on the property, residing in the house that the late architect David C. Morton designed and built in the 1980s. Shands, who is an ordained Episcopal priest, and his wife chose to build on the site because of its propensity for frefies. You will have some friends at this party too. Maya Lin, who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is represented by a large, contemplative landscape work on the property. Anish Kapoor, who created Cloud Gate (aka, "Te Bean"), and Jaume Plensa, who did Crown Fountain — both in Chicago's Millennium Park — are represented by some of their most beautiful and compelling work. "Each work is like a child to me," Shands says. Shands and his wife chose to live in a manner that took seriously the responsibility of collecting great works of the day. Tey did their homework, educated themselves. Tey built a house with an architectural style that would feel like home but still allow large-scale pieces to be represented. "We did not want great big daubs of emotion and unruliness, but instead: balance, contemplation, importance and that wonderful serendipity that you might call taste," he says. Shands laughs heartily when he says this, for he knows that in the end art must not be taken too seriously. After all, no good dinner party can possibly succeed without a sense of humor. He also realizes that the party cannot last forever, and that all wonderful evenings come to an end. "Nothing in life, not even art, is ON ART AND THE LAND Top right: Sol LeWitt, Progression (1997; installed in 2011) "I've often thought about having a plaque made that would read something like, 'Mary and Al Shands discovered in this house that art, architecture, landscape and hospital- ity are all part of the same experi- ence.' A vital part of the collection is the way that you share it with others. It's not about creating a public space but creating a space that's inviting and that gives rise to conversations and an exchange of ideas. I love the combination of architecture, art and landscape. I don't want this house to look like a museum, and I don't want it to look like a sculpture park outside. I want it to breathe and leave room for people." — Shands, in Great Meadows Continued on next page Sanctuary for the eyes (All quotes from Al Shands.) 32-37 Al Shands.indd 33 4/21/14 11:49 AM