Client: Medtronic, Inc., and City of Lafayette, Colorado

Overview

Five figures ride leaves of 40-foot grasses in this sculpture, which shows people as part of the natural environment. Facing the busy US 287 highway, the imaginative artwork comprises 21 prairie and wheat grasses of different types alluding to the prairie setting of Lafayette, Colorado, at the foot of the mountains as well as its agricultural roots. Sitting on 10-foot-long gold leaves, the cast aluminum human figures have five different colors showing a diversity similar to that in the natural environment. The grasses are made of stainless steel, engineered to withstand winds and move up to 22 inches. A sandstone veneer wall stands in front of the sculpture with a Native American motif or storyline by Sarah Ortegon, an Arapaho/Shoshone artist. Her artwork adds historical context and weight to the otherwise whimsical piece. The sculptor Robert Tully hired Ortegon to create a wall design.

Goals

The primary goal of this monumental sculpture is to form a gateway artwork to Lafayette, Colorado, relating to its community, its plains environment and diversity. The artwork also represents the people-oriented mission of Medtronic, a healthcare technology company. The company provided the site and equal funding with the City of Lafayette for the ambitious project.

Process

Medtronic and the City of Lafayette staff wrote a public art call with broad lead way for artists but requested art that reflected the community and its diversity. They reviewed 125 applications and asked the three finalists to submit video presentations that were posted for public comment, with more than 500 received.

Sculptor and project manager Robert Tully first worked with structural engineer Tony Gonzalez to specify the stainless steel. He then fabricated the welded, tapering, 40-foot grasses and leaves at his work yard and sculpted the clay figures to be cast into aluminum at Madd Castings in Berthoud, Colorado. Premium Powder Coating in Longmont, Colorado, provided colors. Sarah Ortegon drew her original wall design springboarding from geometric, traditional Arapaho motifs, while Tribble Stone Co. provided the red sandstone and sandblasting of the design. A temporary timber mat bridge was built for heavy trucks to access the site by Tony Singh of Fiore and Sons excavating. Bryan Buikema of C8 Projects in Berthoud, Colorado, led the complex installation with field welding and consultation, with the long stems lifted off semi-trucks with cranes. Cory Sailer of Sailer Trucking managed the equally complex shipping of the long, curved pieces.