Current projects and musings. Thanks for reading!
See the full story in this video tour of our most recent project, narrated by artist Julie Richey.
A video tour of the North Fort Worth Animal Care and Control campus artwork, designed and fabricated by Julie Richey Mosaics, LLC. © Julie Richey Mosaics, LLC 2023 Video by Danny Fulgencio.
In February 2020, I was selected from a short list of local artists to design an art installation for the new AC Marriott Hotel in downtown Fort Worth. The client, development company Jackson Shaw, requested a “contemporary design with a Western flair.” My inspiration for the project was the local bootmaker, M.L. Leddy, which is located in the historic Ft. Worth Stockyards. The kind folks at Leddy’s allowed me to photograph several custom boot designs. The Pamplona Rose Column is inspired by a Spanish rose-themed leatherwork and a sunburst stitch on a custom boot.
The Pamplona Rose Column shape is based on a polaina, the Spanish term for a gaiter or leather legging often worn by riders. Often ornate, they take the place of a full boot stack when wearing short roper boots.
We wanted to ensure the right size and scale of the mosaic pavement and the column. We printed a full-sized paper pattern and I cut a Coreplast template to mock up the footprint and height of the center column. The Jackson Shaw staff, as well as architects from Merriman and Austin Industries assisted and weighed in.
Once fabrication started, I packed up the materials, patterns and mosaic tape. My summer studio is in Taos, NM. Here is the final Boot Stitch Mosaic pattern, laid out and labeled for the installers. It’s face-taped with clear mosaic mounting tape, and once the mosaic is set, the tape will be removed for grouting.
It’s really happening! Installers have set the template in the hotel entryway, filling the recess with sand-set Pavestone. A Schluter metal edge will be installed to contain the mosaic pavement. The column will take a bit longer, and we hope to start fabrication this fall for a winter installation.
The Piece 24 Project is a two-part collaborative, monumental public art project produced by 29 Pieces and Craig Schenkel Real Estate and aims to spread the message of a “viral influence” that inspires people to choose to be contagions of respect and compassion for all living things. The inspiration for the Piece 24 sculpture is the American Indian quote, “Make my hands respect the things you have made,” from the passage, Let me Walk in Beauty.
Piece 24: Make My Hands Respect the Things You Have Made
Grinding mortar to make space for the next mosaic section. Photo by Danny Fulgencio
In January, 2015 I was asked to assist Karen Blessen and the 29 Pieces team of student interns, artist mentors and volunteers as they translated their four-foot maquette into an 18-foot-tall outdoor public sculpture. Over the course of the next ten months, we created 4x scale series of patterns to enlarge the design and create the mosaic puzzle. Using 1x1 inch glass squares, the mosaics were built over clear contact paper and held together using a strong mosaic tape. Laticrete International donated the mortar and grout so that mosaic could be applied to the form using the One Step Method of mixing an adhesive/grout system. Albert T. Scherbarth designed and welded the steel, lathe and concrete structure and powder-coated balls, with twisted, sprouting steel attachments. Baldwin Metals created special attachments for the very particular, twisted steel on top of the hand.
Joe Stokes, lead art instructor, Julie Richey, lead mosaic artist, Maria Patino, student intern, Daniel Diaz, Laticrete rep, and Kelly Nash, 29 Pieces staff artist pose with the completed hand.
Bolting the tower together.
A terribly windy day didn't stop intern Hope Treviño from cleaning up the mortar.
Some very intense work days followed the structure's installation, as the bolt access areas had to be covered and smoothed by Scherbarth, and new mosaic sections were then added, piece by piece. The sculpture's public dedication took place on December 17th, 2017.
Our student intern Hope Treviño took this photo of Advocate Magazine photographer Danny Fulgencio getting the bird's eye view of Piece 24 and the Texas Theater.
Piecing in the last bits.
