An Even Fresher Batch of Mayhem: MetroArts 2017 -Part II

A little bit of history: before MetroArts 2017 started, our host location, The Figge Art Museum held its 2017 Fundraiser Gala.  The theme was "Recycle, Repurpose, Recreate.".  Terry Rathje and I, along with several volunteers created the decorations for the pre-party space utilizing cardboard boxes -which had been collected for several months prior to the Gala.

Mr. Terry Rathje making things right.....again.

Lora and Maddie organizing part of the decorations.

After the Figge Gala was over, the cardboard was immediately redirected to be used for the MetroArts sculpture.  Kinda handy, isn't it?  "Re-Recycle, Re-Repurpose, Re-Recreate".

That explains the hows and whys of how our sculpture was fabricated using cardboard, it was already on hand and the price was right.

As the various pieces were completed, we started to lay out the design so we could more readily see what we had, and almost more importantly, see what we still needed to fabricate.

Laying out the mural in order to see the big picture.

Taking a quick break for some shenanigans.....

At this point, we basically broke into two groups.  One group was down on the loading dock at the Figge adhering the work to 2'x'2 sheets of Masonite and then painting the whole thing green.

MetroArts has some great sponsors/sponsorships from our local businesses.  I would personally like to thank K&K Hardware in Bettendorf for donating many of our materials including: liquid nails, knives, hot glue, hot glue guns, and much much more.  Without this kind of charitable civic-minded awesomeness, MetroArts could not happen.  Check out K&K Hardware by clicking this link: https://www.kkhardware.com/.

I'm not sure what happened between when I took this initial photo and about 3 hours later, but these two were covered in paint by the end of the day.

Adhere.

Paint.

As the panels got completed on the first floor, our layout on the second floor slowly disappeared.

Almost gone.....

The second half of the group was up on the second floor and worked diligently to produce the final components needed to finish our relief.

Pay attention to the following images as I crush a MetroArts apprentice's will to not smile.....

....not gonna smile.....

....not gonna smile.....

....not gonna smile.....

.......not gonna smile.........

.....starting to crack........

....destroyed!

In the home stretch....paint.....

.....adhere......

....paint.....

....adhere......

Getting the wall patched, painted, and prepared for the MetroArts Showcase on Thursday July 13th.

Before.

After.

This is what it looks like all completed.

Before I close, I would like to thank our many sponsors that helped to make MetroArts possible.  If it weren't for the wisdom, wealth, and work of: The John Deere Foundation, Modern Woodmen Foundation, Illinois Arts Council Agency, Arbonne Foundation, Junior Board of Rock Island, The City of Rock Island, Davenport Parks and Recreation, Stecker Graphics, K&K Hardware, Davenport Public Library, and the Development Authority of Rock Island, MetroArts 2017 would not have been possible.  Thank you!

Finally, a quick than you to our friends at the Figge Art Museum: Melissa, Tim, Bob, Tony, Mike, Josh, Vanessa, Andrew, Lynn, Laura, and Brian for tolerating our messes and helping us when we needed it!