Circle of Peace

We were fortunate enough to be allowed to help install a “Circle of Peace” sculpture by Gary Lee Price last week. That’s one of the things that keeps our job interesting… We never know what we’ll be asked to do! Similar to installing “The Lorax“, our relocation of the Veteran’s Memorial Monument at Fletcher Cemetery and various installations for the Charley Creek Foundation, we’ve been called on to do these things because our clients recognize that we will treat these pieces with the respect and care they deserve.

The sculpture weighs approximately 750 lb and came in two pieces. It traveled from the foundry in Utah in the back of a pick up truck. At the wheel was Isaiah Price, the sculpturer’s son. He said the looks and reactions you get from fellow drivers can be quite amusing at times. Fortunately we were able to use a forklift to get the two pieces off of the truck, but from there it was an Egyptian Style move (Strong Backs, Weak Minds), up a set of stairs and about the length of a bowling alley across the lawn to their new home.

Because this was a landscape setting on a green roof location, the sculpture was set in concrete pavers to spread the weight. A template was sent to us ahead of time so we could place and leveled on the concrete pavers. The sculpture was dry set on the pavers to make sure of the location, then the bases were marked and drilled so that they could be anchored in place. (Dowel pins were screwed into the feet – see right) All in all the sculpture had to be set, removed and reset three times before all was said and done. The whole process took about an hour. Thanks to Scott Bennett and Abree Gonce for staying overtime to accomplish this as the delivery didn’t arrive until about 5:20 in the evening.

We had discussed several locations with the client and ended up with a location in a planting bed where the sculpture will be somewhat hidden from one direction and “revealed” as guests proceed down the walking path or look out across the walk from the home. This often creates a more dramatic vision or as I was taught in school, the difference between a Vista and a View… In any case, once the landscaping is realigned around the piece, it will look like it has always been there. Very cool!