Sometimes it pays off to be paid to have fun. A church in Tempe, AZ wanted a showpiece for their children’s ministry.
They wanted a huge tree in the foyer of their school building. More than 20 feet high, We needed to construct offsite the prop that was then to be installed in the building.
The skeleton of the tree was constructed of steel and wood framework. We sculpted the tree out of 4’x8′ sheets of Styrofoam.
I wish I had taken more photos of the infrastructure. The Styrofoam was then coated with Rhino coat. I had a chance to use my skills with an airbrush to paint the exterior.
The tree is strong enough to hold 185 pound adults swinging from the limbs. I know, I did.
The most challenging aspect was cantilevering the tree from the wall, so that 1,000 pounds of prop could not break free and crush an unsuspecting child.
The tree had to be fabricated in three parts to facilitate transport and moving into a building with doors within specified dimensions.
The greenery was printed on 1/2″ thick Gatorboard, an industry standard in large format printing. Wood cleats were glued with industrial adhesive, the same stuff that is used to glue side panels to car doors.
The end result is an installation that very few in the industry would be able to surpass. As an artist, I am proud to say I was part of a team of over a dozen people to create this masterpiece.
There is no “I” in teamwork.