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RAPID CITY, S.D. (Oct.1, 2012) – The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, in conjunction with Nucor Days, will unveil the sculpture Homage to the Spine by internationally-known Italian artist Claudio Bottero at noon Wednesday, Oct. 3. The unveiling will take place in the quad.
Bottero created the signature piece in Rapid City during the Artist’s Blacksmith Association of North America’s (ABANA) biannual conference, this year held at the Central States Fairgrounds in July.
At each ABANA conference, invited demonstrators create pieces to be auctioned off after the closing ceremonies. Bottero was a key demonstrator, and 12 professional American blacksmiths vied for the opportunity to work with him. Together they created the sculpture over the course of three and a half days in 104-degree heat.
Known for his unique style of contemporary forged sculpture, Bottero designed the piece to demonstrate his personal interest in the human form while at the same time expressing his expertise of combining forging, plasticity of material and surface detail with traditional joinery techniques.
Using various techniques of hand forging and power hammers, along with experienced assistants, the intricate artwork emerged from a life size drawing into a 10-foot-tall sculpture.
The School of Mines will present the Bottero sculpture during Nucor Days, which is being hosted at SDSM&T Oct. 2-5, to honor Nucor Steel’s ongoing support of students and the university.
Nucor Steel is the second largest employer of Mines’ graduates. Nucor Steel donated $1 million in 2008 to establish a professorship at the School of Mines. John Ferriola, Nucor president and chief operating officer, served as spring 2012 commencement speaker. Nucor was also a corporate sponsor of the 2012 ABANA conference and made possible many of the seminars and tours on campus.
The sculpture is on loan for a year by an anonymous donor and is located in the quad on the east end of the Classroom Building. Robert Scull poured the concrete footing for the sculpture.
About the unveiling
What: Unveiling of Claudio Bottero’s sculpture Homage to the Spine
Where: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, in the quad on east side of the Classroom Building
When: Noon, Wednesday, Oct. 3
Online: ABANA --
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ABANA/326956651281The flowing blacksmiths were part of Team Bottero at ABANA 2012:
Abraham Pardee,
http://skolstudio.com/Michael Bondi,
http://www.michaelbondi.com/Zack Libatsh,
http://www.zachlihatsh.com/Colby Brinkman,
http://www.metalmantis.com/Haley Woodward,
http://www.austinmetalauthority.com/Elijah Burnett,
http://www.burnettforge.com/gallery.phpLogan Hirsh,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMAKVOSyp0QDennis Dusek,
http://artisticblacksmith.biz/Brett Moten,
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Infinity-Forge/243844784582?sk=infoMichael Chmielewski,
http://www.mlchmielewski.com/Patrick Quinn,
http://patrickjquinn.com/Tim Cisneros,
http://www.theforgeworks.com/Michael Alford