Concrete creations 'big' hit
By Judi Brinegar
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
SOPHIA - Baseballs are the latest project for sculptor Roger Halligan
and artist Jan Chenoweth of Sophia.
Baseballs?
This talented couple was chosen to construct nine gigantic concrete baseballs
for the new minor league baseball stadium near completion in Greensboro.
The stadium will be the new home to the Greensboro Grasshoppers, a Class
A minor league team. The new First Horizon Park is being constructed due
to the deterioration of the old War Memorial Baseball Stadium that was built
in 1926.
"We got a call this summer from Samet Corporation, asking if we
would be interested in putting in a bid on the project," Halligan said.
"The only problem is that the bid had to be in the next day and we
were leaving a vacation in the United Kingdom and Ireland."
"We didn't have much time to think about it," Chenoweth added.
"We just said yes! We got a call at 7 a.m. the day we were leaving
that we had the contract."
The developers were very specific about how they wanted the concrete
baseballs to look, according to the couple. They had to be five feet in
diameter and four and one-half feet tall. When complete, each baseball will
weigh approximately 1,500 pounds. White cement, white marble chips, white
sand and white fiber are used in construction to give the baseballs a brilliant
glow. The stitching will be painted on by Chenoweth and artist friend Bill
Donnan. Another artist friend, Derrick Sides, is also helping with the project.
"No baseball is perfect so they made sure that every detail will
show," she said. "We took real baseballs apart and studied them.
We even counted stitches on the baseballs. Did you know that there are 108
pairs of stitches on a baseball? That is nine times 108 pairs of stitches
that we have to paint!
"It's going to be labor-intensive, but well worth it."
The couple has worked separately and as a team around the country over
the years. Many of their artistic endeavors are in private collections.
Chenoweth's undergraduate work was done at the University of Illinois
and Virginia Intermont College. She received her MFA degree in Visual Art
from Florida State University and taught painting, drawing, color theory,
three-dimensional design and two-dimensional design for more than 14 years
at the college level. In 1994 she left teaching to devote more time to her
studio work. She is actively involved with many nonprofit arts organizations
as a board member, curator and volunteer.
Halligan has been creating sculpture since the mid-seventies. He received
his MFA with honors in Studio Arts from the University of Georgia in 1977.
He then joined the newly formed Exhibit Design Department at the North Carolina
Zoological Park where he became involved in the design and construction
of natural habitat exhibits for African and later North American animals.
He was instrumental in the development of the techniques now used at that
zoo in its construction of hardscape features such as faux rocks, waterfalls
and faux trees. In 1993 he was awarded the State of North Carolina, Governors
Award for Excellence for his work in the design and construction of the
Sonora Desert Exhibit. In 1992, he left the zoo to devote his time to his
fine art and sculptural hardscape work in the private sector.
The couple opened Two Oaks Studio in 1997.
"A lot of our work is done for individuals," Halligan said.
"We have done so many things over the years and this is something that
everybody can identify with. When I was a kid, I went to games with my Dad,
then played Little League, so baseball is something I grew up with. We are
doing something that everybody can identify with."
"We both like baseball and like to go to games in Greensboro,"
Chenoweth added. "It will be nice to go and see the baseballs and know
that they are something that we did."
The first baseball has just been completed in clay and now a two-part
mold of that baseball is being constructed. The baseballs will not be cast
solid (they would be too heavy to transport) so will have a foam core and
three-inch thick concrete walls. Then the baseballs will have to "cure"
for a time before being moved to the stadium, which opens for the 2005 season
in April.
The baseballs will have to be placed on specially-built skids and then
transported to the stadium on the back of a flat-bed truck.
"We are shooting for mid-March to have them in place," Chenoweth
said.
* * *
First Horizon Park is located on Bennett Avenue in Greensboro. For
more information on tickets to the Greensboro Grasshoppers games, call (336)
294-4920 .
Copyright 2002, Stephens Media Group
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