[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11949]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      RECOGNIZING BARRY WONENBERG

  (Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago, President Kennedy observed 
that ``the life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a 
distraction, in the life of a nation, is very close to the center of a 
nation's purpose--and is a test of the quality of a nation's 
civilization.''
  I ask you to join me today in recognizing Barry Wonenberg, an artist 
in the Northern Mariana Islands, who very much embodies the ideal of 
which the President spoke, and who, through his avocations as both 
artist and educator, has, for more than 20 years, broadened our 
community's appreciation of art, creativity, and culture--and 
encouraged others to explore, and achieve in, artistic endeavors as 
well.
  Today, Barry is representing the United States at the 12th 
International Sculpture Symposium in Changchun, China. Artists from 96 
different countries are creating sculptures there which will be added 
to some 500 sculptures already exhibited in that city from previous 
symposia. We all watch the progress on the massive clay sculpture Barry 
is creating, wish him well, and thank him for representing the Northern 
Marianas and America with such distinction.
  Fifty years ago, President Kennedy observed that ``the life of the 
arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of a 
nation, is very close to the center of a nation's purpose--and is a 
test of the quality of a nation's civilization.'' I ask you to join me 
today in recognizing Barry Wonenberg, an artist in the Northern Mariana 
Islands who very much embodies the ideal of which the president spoke, 
and who, through his avocations as both artist and educator has, for 
more than 20 years, broadened our community's appreciation of art, 
creativity, and culture--and encouraged others to explore, and achieve 
in, artistic endeavors as well.
  Barry came to the Commonwealth in 1989 under an artist-in-residence 
contract and he initially aided in the design of lesson plans and 
textbooks for the local public school system, including the first-ever 
Northern Marianas History textbook. Not long thereafter, Barry accepted 
a teaching position at Northern Marianas College, where he developed a 
ceramics program and has assisted in the development of other arts-
related curricula.
  Barry's true passion as an artist, and the area in which he has 
inspired most students, though, remains sculpture and pottery--which he 
has been crafting for 35 years. As in most cultures around the world, 
these arts represent a tangible link to our local historical past. The 
mediums also inspire exploration, consideration, and interpretation of 
the natural beauty that abounds in our contemporary island environment.
  Barry's passion for pottery has led to local and international 
distinction. In 2003, Barry was a recipient of the Governor's 
Humanities Award in the CNMI. He was celebrated for bringing local 
cultural elements of design into the vision of the contemporary artist, 
which has aided the preservation of a primary indigenous cultural art.
  In 2008, Barry was one of 31 sculptors worldwide invited to 
participate in the International Sculpture Symposium in Changchun, 
China. His ten-foot-high bronze and stainless steel sculpture has a 
permanent place in the Changchun World Sculpture Park, which is home to 
hundreds of sculptures from artists around the world. In 2010 he was 
again chosen to represent the Northern Mariana Islands at the 
Symposium. Out of 1,060 submissions from around the world, 29 artists 
were selected to attend the Symposium. Of those 29 artists, four were 
chosen to create two works of art each. Barry was one of those four.
  Barry's artistic talents have also benefitted our island community in 
some very real and significant ways. For example, he joined with others 
to transform a underutilized area of our local hospital into a calming 
therapeutic garden for psychiatric patients. He also served as an 
advisor to a group that worked to apply for, and receive, funding 
through NOAA's Prescott Grant Program to engage in a regional study of 
marine mammal stranding, which will include the development of an 
interpretive display of the skeletons of marine mammals recovered from 
the waters around our islands. In aid of local charitable fundraising 
efforts, Barry also regularly contributes his work for auction or 
raffle by social service organizations in the Commonwealth.
  Today, as a nation, we face challenges to the arts--for both 
financial and ideological reasons. I hope that we all consider the 
nexus between the arts and our civilization, globally and locally, as 
we debate the issues. And I also hope that you will join me in paying 
tribute to Barry Wonenberg--who has spent much of his life, to the 
benefit of the Northern Mariana Islands, practicing what President 
Kennedy preached.

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