If you're local to Culpeper, I'm sure you've heard talk about a little project called "Reel Love". Our friend, Roque Castro, owner of Yesterday Reclaimed, has had the honor of being chosen as the artist to complete the LOVE sculpture for Culpeper. To describe the project, I'll let the Culpeper Tourism department do the talking:
In April 2012, the Culpeper Tourism office applied for and received a small grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation, for localities to develop their own LOVE artwork promoting Tourism to Virginia and to their town. The program promotes the Virginia is for Lovers ® brand and the campaign tagline of “LOVE is at the heart of every Virginia vacation”. Upon receiving a donation of 120 film reels from the Library of Congress, we decided to have our installation reflect the emerging Arts in Culpeper. Local artist Roque Castro will be creating the artwork - the film reels are a perfect material for his creation, and he's a master at recycling found objects. Stay tuned as we roll out the date - and location - to unveil the LOVE!
Roque has generously been sharing his progress with the community, and has even let a few of us pitch-in on the project. I can honestly say, I never thought I'd be learning how to smooth metal edges with an angle grinder or getting welding lessons on a Saturday morning, but I've enjoyed every minute of it.
This past Saturday, the letter "E" was the main focus. It stands just over 6 feet tall, and is even better in person! Here are a couple pictures of my experience working on the Reel Love project. Highlight of my day...I even got to make a take-home souvenir of my first welding experience.
First action shot!
My welding souvenir:
If you want to know more about the project, make sure to follow the Yesterday Reclaimed and Culpeper Facebook pages!
Please put on some closed-toe shoes!!! Great blog post :-) - Xtina
ReplyDeleteHah! That's #1 on the agenda for next week. Closed toed shoes and jeans. :)
DeleteThis is awesome Kels! I'm so very proud of you, welding can be very intimidating!! :) - Casey Carlson
ReplyDeleteI think the look on Micky's face may be more intimidating than welding!
ReplyDeleteWell, taken from my own experiences, welding can be a load of fun! Even satisfying at times, when you’ve perfectly smoothed the edges, or at least perfected them according to your own standards. :D Congratulations on the experience! Just never forget safety practices if you do this again in the future. Wear goggles or a face mask before doing anything.
ReplyDelete-->Jeanette West