Making it Happen

The Cedars Neighborhood

Now that I had found a location and community that could provide tools and support, I needed to find a way of funding this project.  Last year, The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs had begun a new micro-grant project for artists.  To qualify, the project would need to be completed within the city and be of benefit of the community. These posed interesting parameters for me since I have never worked in public art or outdoor sculpture. Porcelain or liquid-form enamel is most often used for exterior projects because the glass will not fade or corrode over time.  

The installation site of Crossroads

I needed a specific location for the piece and was connected with the owner of 1730 S. Akard St, a single story, square brick building, in the Cedars that would be quite unremarkable if it were not for it being completely covered in graffiti.  I felt this would be a perfect setting for these mostly white enameled panels, and an opportunity for a collaboration of sorts with the local street artists.  With the owner's blessing, his building will be the temporary installation site of Crossroads.  The final element to the proposal was to finalize plans with KVO Industries and Judy Stone to get the work to California to enamel and then back to Dallas to install. The grant that I received does not cover all expenses of this piece, but it does provide the bulk of the money for materials, shipping, travel, insurance, and studio rental costs. Below is the project description that I proposed for the grant:

Project Crossroads Description:

I am seeking funding for a site-specific wall installation in the Dallas Cedars neighborhood.   As an urban industrial area in transition, it is well-suited for this piece.  An architecturally inspired series of vitreous enameled wall panels will be installed at 1730 S. Akard St in the heart of this historic neighborhood.  The brick facade of this building already has graffiti and tags and is situated between a community garden and local BBQ restaurant, Lee Harvey’s, on the corner of Akard St and Beaumont St.   These five steel and enamel panels will float above the work of these other urban artists.  The shapes of the panels will come from the surrounding architecture and the fused-glass surfaces will use imagery of old hand-drawn maps of the city and street views from the late 1800’s, a high point of this neighborhood.  The imagery, forms and colors are a blend of the past and present of Dallas. 

Left: Akard St. 1895Right: Akard St. 2016

Getting Started

I have made large enameled work previously, but I have always felt handicapped by the size of the kiln available.   Scale and proportion decisions had to be made based on the interior dimensions of the kiln.  More than once, I thought a piece would fit in the kiln only to realize it must be cut down and altered to close the door.  Things had to be constructed in a way that they could be assembled after enameling. This was difficult because of the nature of enameled pieces to shift and warp during the firing process.  The work had to be designed with these limitations in mind.  But what if there were no size constrictions and elements could be welded together?  What would the work look like then?

 These were the thoughts that stayed in my mind after my visit in November to San Francisco and talks with Judy Stone (see previous post).  What could I do in a facility made exclusively for large enamel work?  What could I do with a kiln that was 8ft x 7ft x 3ft?   These were exciting and challenging questions, but before those questions could be considered there were practical obstacles.  There were the logistics of where to make the work, how to get it and me from Dallas to Santa Rosa, when would I have time for such an endeavor, how would I pay for the materials, travel, expenses, and where I would find additional studio space since there wouldn’t be enough room in my jewelry studio.  Even questions like, if I do make this work, where will it go when it is completed?

The first piece of puzzle fell into place in January when I stumbled across the name Scott Trent.  Scott has been a sculptor, educator, and public art activist in the Dallas community for many years.   The project I am most familiar with of his is the Henderson Art Project.  He founded this program in 2010, coordinating with businesses and artists to exhibit outdoor sculpture along Henderson Ave, a popular street filled with bars and restaurants in Dallas.   I live near Henderson and truly enjoy the yearly rotation of artwork in my neighborhood.

Bill J. Priest Institute

My interest was piqued by Scott’s current project, a Saturday Welding Class for Artists.   This 4-hour weekly class is held at the El Centro Community College welding certification facilities located in the Cedars Neighborhood of south Dallas. It has become a wonderful space for those of us in Dallas who do not have a sculpture studio. It is a place to connect with other makers, and share knowledge.  Scott and my fellow students were and continue to be amazingly generous with their knowledge about working in large-scale steel sculpture and their local network of people and resources.  It is through this class I have finally felt connected to a community in Dallas.  Along with the welding class space, I became connected with other makers and a community studio space on King St in the Cedars where I could rent additional workspace and get to know another group of artists living and working in The Cedars Neighborhood.  

King St Studio

Project Crossroads

New things are happening in the studio.  Actually, new studio space has been acquired to make room for this very large new project.  For almost 10 years I have been exploring the often complex relationship between vitreous enamel and steel.   I love the variability of the steel alloys I use in my work as they bond with the enamel in the kiln.  One of my key interests in steel is the ability to shift scale from the minute to the monumental.  Enamel is most often associated with jewelry and small-scale objects but the use of enameled steel on a large scale was relatively common throughout the 20th century in the form of street signs, bathtubs, washing machines, and even exterior panels for homes.  Due to rising costs and the popularity of highly durable and cheaper paints, sealers, and powder coats in recent years, the enameling industry has been shrinking.

Lustron Homes steel and enamel manufactured homes post WW II

It has been a dream of mine to have access to an industrial facility where I can work big- very big.   I have been working in both sculpture and jewelry for almost as long as I have been a metalsmith.   Sculpture has usually taken a backseat to the jewelry for a variety of reasons including my academic training in jewelry and the challenge of space and larger tools to physically make the work.  When I moved to Dallas three years ago I began to hope I could bring these two interests more into balance.  It is really only over the last year that I have been able to move forward with this goal.  In November, I went to San Francisco to teach a workshop for the Center for Enamel Art and install my first large-scale piece in five years at Velvet da Vinci gallery .

Untitled: Experiments in Enamel   2007

It is there that I met and connected with Judy Stone, internationally recognized enamellist and founder of the Center.  Judy has an intense and 40 year long passion for enamel, which is what led her to start the Center in 2012.  She has fostered long-term relationships with factories and tech companies in the area through her teaching and large scale enameled commissions.  These connections include a relationship with KVO Industries, an enamel sign factory in Santa Rosa, CA.  There are far fewer of these factories today than there were 10 years ago, and even fewer interested in opening their doors to outsiders or artists.  Many of these factories have developed techniques of working with steel and enamel kept exclusively within the industry.  But through Judy and the Center, KVO Industries has agreed to open its doors to the public, giving access to their wealth of knowledge and impressive facilities.  Judy invited me to come back and “do something BIG!”.  And with this, the seeds of the Crossroads Project were planted.  Next- to figure out how to make it happen.

Delicate Balance 2015site-specific instillation at Velvet da Vinci Gallery Photo Credit: Gail Reid