Little Art City Strikes Again: Collaboration to bring new display to downtown

Students in the Columbia Gorge Community College Skills Center have been hard at it developing this display that will located downtown The Dalles. Little Art City strikes again.

By Sarah Cook

When arriving at the homepage for The Dalles Art Center, viewers are greeted with a short video celebrating “Altogether The Dalles,” a collaborative mural project that culminated in the fall of 2020 with the expansive monochromatic painting located at 811 E. 2nd Street downtown.

There are certain keywords that jump out from the video, including “history,” “curiosity,” and “trust.” These tenants create the scaffolding on which the Art Center’s mission is built, which Executive Director J. Scott Stephenson summarizes as “inspir[ing] all to engage with art.” It is necessarily a community-oriented operation, and the diversity of their projects directly support that mission while also becoming a natural result of their strong commitment to local, place-based creativity. 

Key words in the Dalles Art Center’s mission have been cut into metal in this latest piece of public art destined for downtown The Dalles.

Portland-based artist Shelly Durica-Laiche designed the metal display that will be placed at Third and Washington streets in The Dalles.

In line with this mission, The Dalles Art Center has teamed up with a group of metal fabrication students at Columbia Gorge Community College to fabricate and install a sizable metal display, designed by Portland-based artist Shelly Durica-Laiche, that will greet visitors outside as they approach the Art Center, on the corner of 3rd and Washington streets.

The group of students, led by instructor Robert Wells-Clark, transformed Durica-Laiche’s design into a three-dimensional showpiece through the art of fabrication: using raw metal materials to cut, burn, weld, and form objects and machines, ones that fulfill daily, practical needs—from hand railings to utensils to agricultural equipment—but which also constitute, as they do in this case, incredible works of art.

We caught Wells-Clark on the run about a year ago.

“The sign's visual details are really cool,” said Wells-Clark, who celebrates this project as the first larger-scale one he and his students have undertaken in their new on-site lab. He describes the lab space as “hybrid," existing at the intersection of a classroom and an industrial worksite. “The college listened closely to the industry and instructors” when making plans for construction of the new building, he emphasized. “We are utilizing all new state-of-the-art equipment, including a CNC table, all new welders, new pipe benders and bandsaws. Students were hired over the summer to work to fit the lab out. Nearly everything in it has been fabricated or built by students.” 

Besides being a phenomenal opportunity for students to hone their skills while taking ownership of their place of learning, it was a smart financial move for the college, too. "The lab was empty at the beginning of August, and every table, booth, workbench and all else has been built out, saving nearly $100,000 over purchasing pre-fabricated items. That money was then reinvested into the lab to buy more equipment. It's been an awesome experience to be a small part of getting the facility up and running.” 

It’s up and running thanks to the hard work and eagerness of the students, whose fabricated sign is on track for installation at TDAC in mid-February 2022, with Durica-Laiche, founder of Indio Metal Arts in Portland, planning to be in attendance. 

This project comes in a long line of “real world” experiences that students in Wells-Clark’s classes are afforded, the kind that support them with understanding “the ins and outs of managing a fabrication project” while rounding out their hands-on learning experience. “We also do many community projects on campus, mostly leaning towards the art realm,” added Wells-Clark. “We recently sold a salmon-fish diorama in steel and are currently designing and manufacturing some intricate ‘employee of the month’ plaques for CGCC. We are always looking for projects and hoping to team up with our community through experiential learning opportunities.”

These community opportunities are sure to increase as metal fabrication and manufacturing gain traction on campus. Academic opportunities in this field at CGCC have already increased to include a full one-year Advanced Manufacturing Technology Certificate, with plans to offer both a two-year AA and AAS degree by fall of 2022. As the industry evolves, local students will have the opportunity to evolve along with it, preparing themselves for jobs that might involve metal fabrication and assembly, or welding, or computer-controlled tool operation, or a slew of other possibilities within the field, ones that frequently stand at the intersections of technology, engineering, and art.

Of the sign project with TDAC, lead student-fabricator Austen Piza emphasizes what he and his fellow students gain from these community-based projects: “It is nice to be able to see our work out in the field, being able to drive by and see something you worked on.” The sign itself has a backing that utilizes perforated metal, which Piza named as a particular highlight of his experience. “My favorite part of the project was working with the perforated metal, because it made the lettering in the panels and the river look like it was floating. It’s not a material I've worked with before and it was a cool result. I like working with new materials.”

Piza isn't alone in his preference. Describing their particular use of the perforated metal, Wells-Clark adds that it “casts an impressive shadow of the words on the sign itself, while still looking nearly solid. The lettering and the outline of the river cast against the backdrop and the visual look it gives is just incredible. It's a material I will absolutely use again in the future and would have never heard of if not for Shelly and this project.” Overall, Wells-Clark affirms, it’s been “a great learning experience for students, and we are grateful for the opportunity.”

The Dalles Art Center is located at 220 E. 4th Street. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 5pm, there is no admission fee, though donations are accepted and directly support the continuation of their work. Per state guidelines, visitors are asked to wear masks and practice social distancing when visiting the Center at this time.

This story sponsored by:

Pioneer Electric

Leta and Tim Barclift are owners and operators of Pioneer Electric, 423 E. Second St., The Dalles. They are here to serve you in all your refrigeration, stove and appliance needs. They can also help with parts. And don’t forget to pet Bandit while you’re there.