{"id":8014,"date":"2022-06-07T10:21:54","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T15:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&#038;p=8014"},"modified":"2022-06-07T10:21:54","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T15:21:54","slug":"uw-eau-claire-art-students-collaborate-with-local-business-on-welding-project","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-eau-claire-art-students-collaborate-with-local-business-on-welding-project\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Eau Claire art students collaborate with local business on welding project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1020\" height=\"630\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/PjzDwjqD-jU\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"width: 0px;overflow: hidden;line-height: 0\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As Brittany Harp puts the finishing touches on her metal sculpture \u2014 a creation made with shapes and colors to represent the sun \u2014 the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire senior knows she\u2019s taking more from the welding project than a piece of art.She\u2019s also taking new skills and experiences that will help her in her future career in art education or art therapy, says Harp, who graduated in May with a major in studio art, a minor in psychology and a certificate in American Sign Language.\u201cI didn\u2019t know anything about welding when I started,\u201d says Harp, who completed the project this spring in an intermediate sculpture course. \u201cIt was fun to go into the welding room knowing nothing and to come out with this giant piece.\u201dThe lengthy creative process involved turning her idea into a drawing, then into a model \u2014 or in her case, three models \u2014 and then scaling it to the actual full-size piece of art. The final step involved painting the sculpture with the help of an Eau Claire business, Eclipse Powder Coating.Harp says each step in the project was interesting, but having the opportunity to professionally paint her sculpture at a local business made the welding project an \u201cover the top\u201d experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe could have just stopped at the welding, but instead we had an experience we couldn\u2019t have on campus,\u201d Harp says of spending a recent Saturday at Eclipse learning how to do powder coating, a painting process that keeps metal from rusting when it\u2019s out in the elements.<\/p>\n<p>The partnership with Eclipse has been a \u201cwonderful experience\u201d that gives students additional high-impact learning experiences, which they will carry with them beyond the classroom, says Cedar Marie, an assistant professor of sculpture who teaches the intermediate sculpture course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want students to have meaningful experiences that get them off campus and interacting with others in the community,\u201d Marie says. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about what they\u2019re learning in the classroom but taking the knowledge and skills they\u2019re learning and experiencing and applying it to whatever they do in the world. It isn\u2019t just about being able to put two pieces of metal together; it\u2019s a process of solving a problem through creative means.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The art of welding<\/h3>\n<p>People are constantly surrounded by welded components, such as the beams that support buildings and bridges, Marie says. Welding also is used in creative projects, including things like using metal to create beautiful yet functional pieces of furniture, she says.<\/p>\n<p>So, given its relevance, Marie says it\u2019s important that welding be part of the university\u2019s art curriculum.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, the final project in her intermediate sculpture course is a metal sculpture project. Students choose a theme for a geometric abstract sculpture, and Marie gives them basic parameters as well as the materials they\u2019ll need to complete their welding project.<\/p>\n<p>She asks students to approach their work as if they are professional artists who\u2019ve been commissioned to create a sculpture. Over eight weeks, they take their idea from a concept to a finished piece of art that they can hang on a wall or place in a garden. As they would for a commissioned piece, they must document and share every step of their creative process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe whole process takes a long time, but I want them to walk away with a holistic understanding of creating a sculpture that could have a life outside of the classroom,\u201d Marie says. \u201cThey may never again weld, but what they take away from the practice of welding are things that will help them in whatever they choose to do in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Community connections<\/h3>\n<p>While there is a metals area on campus, the university currently doesn\u2019t have the equipment nor the space necessary for bigger welding projects, Marie says. So, she\u2019s working to build connections with the local business community to see how it might help her create new welding opportunities for her students.<\/p>\n<p>When Marie reached out to Eclipse, the business was eager to share its expertise, facility and materials with her students at no cost.<\/p>\n<p>As students finished the classroom portion on the project, they toured Eclipse, learning how the business operates and about the services it offers. They returned a couple days later to work alongside Eclipse employees to powder coat their sculptures, which was the final step in their welding projects.<\/p>\n<p>Tom Hagenbucher, Eclipse\u2019s business development manager, says the business is excited to work directly with UW-Eau Claire art students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe teach them the whole process,\u201d Hagenbucher says. \u201cA lot of these students had no idea what powder coating even is, so we had a blast showing them what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hagenbucher says the partnership is a \u201cwin-win for everybody\u201d because students leave with a painted metal sculpture and an understanding of how powder coating can enhance their art, and Eclipse benefits because more people know about their business and services.<\/p>\n<p>Learning from and about a local business is an experience he didn\u2019t expect to find in a sculpture class, says Nicholas Bubolz, whose sculpture was inspired by a Japanese print featuring a giant tsunami wave. He used metal to create wave forms, adding metal rods across the piece to \u201cmake it interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At Eclipse, he enjoyed learning how to powder coat his sculpture, but he also was fascinated by the company\u2019s business model and how it efficiently meets client needs, says Bubolz, who graduated this month with a major in information systems, and minors in art and computer science. The visit helped him see that art and business are more similar than people often think.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI find the creative process of developing an art project, getting feedback and then doing it from start to finish interesting,\u201d Bubolz says. \u201cI realized that in many ways, the process is like establishing and running a business. This was a great opportunity to see business and art come together.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Looking ahead<\/h3>\n<p>Marie\u2019s relationship with Eclipse began just before COVID-19, so this spring was only the second time her students visited the business. Her hope, she says, is that it will be a long-standing partnership that will help the university\u2019s welding program continue to grow.<\/p>\n<p>In the future, Marie hopes the welding program will grow in ways that will allow students to give back to the campus and community through their artwork. For example, with the right equipment and space, students could create items like \u201cfunctional but colorful bike racks that will help make the campus really fun.\u201d They also could create public art pieces for the community, including sculptures that could potentially be part of the Eau Claire sculpture tour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe live in a built environment,\u201d Marie says. \u201cAnywhere you look, there is some kind of welded component; it\u2019s prevalent and important. It supports us as human beings. Our focus is art, so we\u2019re thinking about the many things we can do with welding in a sculpture course. We are working with what we have as far as equipment and space, but our goal is to continue building our resources on campus and with community partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"story-meta\"><strong>For the Media<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.uwec.edu\/athena\/images\/19033\/welding.jpg\">Image Download<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Written by Judy Berthiaume; Video by Jesse Yang<\/p>\n<p>Link to original story: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uwec.edu\/news\/news\/art-students-learn-how-to-include-welding-in-their-creative-works-5176\/\">https:\/\/www.uwec.edu\/news\/news\/art-students-learn-how-to-include-welding-in-their-creative-works-5176\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff As Brittany Harp puts the finishing touches on her metal sculpture \u2014 a creation made with shapes and colors to represent the sun \u2014 the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire senior knows she\u2019s taking more from the welding project than a piece of art.She\u2019s also taking new skills and experiences that will help her in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":8020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[96],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-8014","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-eau-claire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/8014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=8014"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=8014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}