Metal Meets Art
Group picture
A welding art show will be held at Bartenbach Galleries on Thursday April 20th from 5 to 8pm. At this public event, you will be able to meet the students that participated in this project, admire great artwork and have fun. You will also have the opportunity to make a bid on these masterpieces. Half of the proceeds of the winning bid will be donated to the Grand Island Senior High Welding Department. All the art sculptures will be displayed here until the show in April.
Special thanks to Island Supply for your generous donation of materials for this welding project.
The following are two newspaper articles that were in the Grand Island Independent in Grand Island Nebraska (my home town). The first made the front page. Both are written by Mike Bockoven and have been edited by me.
Full view of grape vine
Bottom of grape vine
Base of grape vine
The art being created by Grand Island Senior High's welding class was less tone and style than sweat and steel.
During the class, one of four students would light a blowtorch and hold it to a solid metal tube until it glowed a yellowish hue. A moment later, another student would shape the metal around a pole with a hammer while the others looked on and offered advice.
Overseeing the whole project was Henry “Hank” Bartenbach, a 2001 GISH graduate who earned his degree in heavy equipment operation and Welding Certification from Western Nevada Community College. Hank has art in his blood, the logistics of creating a metal sculpture in his mind, and unfortunately, a problem with his eyes.
"I'm doing this because I might as well give an education to others while I can," Bartenbach said. "I think it's pretty cool."
During his tenure at Western Nevada, Bartenbach created a 7 1/2' sculpture, a rose vine rendered in metal. The work was meticulous and took him a whole semester to complete, but it's an idea and a piece of which he's very proud.
Full view of rose vine
Bottom of rose vine
Middle of rose vine
Top of rose vine
Base of rose vine
When he heard from his doctors that he had suffered detached retinas and was slowly losing his sight, he wanted to make sure that his idea was something he shared with others. He meet with Dave Klimek, metals teacher at GISH, and pitched him on giving students a chance to create their own sculpture using skills they were learning in class.
"He asked me what I thought, and I thought it was cool," Klimek said. "The kids will take the experience with them. If you like welding and you're artistic, it's a great project."
Bartenbach is overseeing three classes that last four school weeks. The students are creating a grape vine sculpture, a similar sculpture Bartenbach is calling a "daisy vine", and a wrench vine. The advanced welding class has already completed their sculpture of a wrench tree.
In order to make the project work, Bartenbach purchased a lot of the materials himself and plans to sell the finished pieces either locally -- which he'd prefer -- or on the Internet after they're completed. He will leave one piece (the wrench vine) with the shop at GISH as an example to future welding students.
Heather James, a senior at GISH, is one of four students making the grape vine creation. She said part of her job is to create unique configurations of metal leaves, grapes and vines, then help weld them onto the larger piece.
"If it looks good, you keep it like that," she said. "Making the vines is my favorite part."
Klimek said the advantage to having this program at the school is that it allows for an artistic side to a highly technical skill. Even though Bartenbach might not be able to do this much longer given his condition, he said it's something they want to continue if they can. "It takes a lot of time," Klimek said. "You have to have an eye for it, but I'd guess it's something we're going to keep doing after this year."
The pieces should be complete by the end of the month, Bartenbach said. That's good because he is waiting to see if radiation treatments he's undergone will have an effect on his sight. Either way, he said he was happy to donate his time and resources to the school, and hopes students take something away from the experience.
"I consider this a long-term investment," he said. "This takes a lot of time, but I think it's going to be worth it.".
Full view of wrench tree
Base of wrench tree
Top of wrench tree
Bottom of wrench tree
(Second article)
Student welding project turns into art show.
Grand Island Senior High graduate Henry "Hank" Bartenbach is hosting a welding art show at Bartenbach Galleries in downtown Grand Island. The art, which Bartenbach describes as '50 percent art and 50 percent welding technique,' is designed and made by Bartenbach and Grand Island Senior High students, and will be for sale starting on April 20th.
Steve Vickers admits he doesn't have a lot of artistic talent. But when he tried his hand at art recently, sparks flew. Literally.
"I stick with this because it's something I know I can do," Vickers, a junior at Grand Island Senior High, said shortly after smoothing a weld on his latest art project with a metal sander, shooting sparks into the air. "This has combined everything I've learned so far. I love it."
Vickers was one of about 15 students who worked on four different art projects at GISH. The project, which involved wrapping different metal designs around straight, tall pieces of metal, was artistic in that students are creating a unique piece, and technical in that they have to use all they know about welding to create it.
Full view of daisy vine
Base of daisy vine
Bottom of daisy vine
Top of daisy vine
Henry "Hank" Bartenbach, a GISH graduate who returned and donated his time and part of the material to the project, said the project was 50 percent art and 50 percent welding techniques, which is why he thought it would be a good idea to show the public this unique hybrid.
Starting this weekend, the four pieces, plus Bartenbach's own design ( 7 1/2’ rose vine), will be on display at Bartenbach Galleries in downtown Grand Island for the show April 20th.
"I figured some of the other students who have projects could come and show them off," Bartenbach said. "I want to give Grand Island the first opportunity to see it and buy it if they want."
The four pieces designed and built by the students include a grapevine, complete with bunches of metal grapes welded to the frame, a daisy vine which is a similar concept with flowers instead of grapes, a wrench vine, which involves dozens of small wrenches bent and twisted around the frame, and a wrench tree, which has a frame built out of wrenches with other wrenches around that.
A big part of the piece was spending the necessary time to make everything stick and look good, said Bartenbach, who has a degree in heavy equipment and welding technology. On that front, the pieces turned out as well as he had hoped, and the students were able to learn a little bit as well.
"It's all about designing it," Bartenbach said. "They're designing something and learning something, but they're all having fun."
In fact, Bartenbach said several students started off on the project, but it was actually finished by a completely different set of students. What resulted was several students contributing to the unique designs.
"There is a lot of labor in it, but in the same process they're making a unique design," he said. "You can't mass produce this, and if they did it again, it would be a completely different piece."
One of the pieces (wrench vine), Bartenbach said, will stay at GISH as an example of what other welding students can do, while the others are for sale.
Full view of wrench vine
Base of wrench vine
Top of wrench vine
This is also a chance for the students who worked on the project to show it off to others who wouldn't otherwise see it. Vickers said it's an interesting feeling, to know this project will be on display. "I've never been in an art show before," he said. "That will be fun."
Group picture
A welding art show will be held at Bartenbach Galleries on Thursday April 20th from 5 to 8pm. At this public event, you will be able to meet the students that participated in this project, admire great artwork and have fun. You will also have the opportunity to make a bid on these masterpieces. Half of the proceeds of the winning bid will be donated to the Grand Island Senior High Welding Department. All the art sculptures will be displayed here until the show in April.
Special thanks to Island Supply for your generous donation of materials for this welding project.
The following are two newspaper articles that were in the Grand Island Independent in Grand Island Nebraska (my home town). The first made the front page. Both are written by Mike Bockoven and have been edited by me.
Full view of grape vine
Bottom of grape vine
Base of grape vine
The art being created by Grand Island Senior High's welding class was less tone and style than sweat and steel.
During the class, one of four students would light a blowtorch and hold it to a solid metal tube until it glowed a yellowish hue. A moment later, another student would shape the metal around a pole with a hammer while the others looked on and offered advice.
Overseeing the whole project was Henry “Hank” Bartenbach, a 2001 GISH graduate who earned his degree in heavy equipment operation and Welding Certification from Western Nevada Community College. Hank has art in his blood, the logistics of creating a metal sculpture in his mind, and unfortunately, a problem with his eyes.
"I'm doing this because I might as well give an education to others while I can," Bartenbach said. "I think it's pretty cool."
During his tenure at Western Nevada, Bartenbach created a 7 1/2' sculpture, a rose vine rendered in metal. The work was meticulous and took him a whole semester to complete, but it's an idea and a piece of which he's very proud.
Full view of rose vine
Bottom of rose vine
Middle of rose vine
Top of rose vine
Base of rose vine
When he heard from his doctors that he had suffered detached retinas and was slowly losing his sight, he wanted to make sure that his idea was something he shared with others. He meet with Dave Klimek, metals teacher at GISH, and pitched him on giving students a chance to create their own sculpture using skills they were learning in class.
"He asked me what I thought, and I thought it was cool," Klimek said. "The kids will take the experience with them. If you like welding and you're artistic, it's a great project."
Bartenbach is overseeing three classes that last four school weeks. The students are creating a grape vine sculpture, a similar sculpture Bartenbach is calling a "daisy vine", and a wrench vine. The advanced welding class has already completed their sculpture of a wrench tree.
In order to make the project work, Bartenbach purchased a lot of the materials himself and plans to sell the finished pieces either locally -- which he'd prefer -- or on the Internet after they're completed. He will leave one piece (the wrench vine) with the shop at GISH as an example to future welding students.
Heather James, a senior at GISH, is one of four students making the grape vine creation. She said part of her job is to create unique configurations of metal leaves, grapes and vines, then help weld them onto the larger piece.
"If it looks good, you keep it like that," she said. "Making the vines is my favorite part."
Klimek said the advantage to having this program at the school is that it allows for an artistic side to a highly technical skill. Even though Bartenbach might not be able to do this much longer given his condition, he said it's something they want to continue if they can. "It takes a lot of time," Klimek said. "You have to have an eye for it, but I'd guess it's something we're going to keep doing after this year."
The pieces should be complete by the end of the month, Bartenbach said. That's good because he is waiting to see if radiation treatments he's undergone will have an effect on his sight. Either way, he said he was happy to donate his time and resources to the school, and hopes students take something away from the experience.
"I consider this a long-term investment," he said. "This takes a lot of time, but I think it's going to be worth it.".
Full view of wrench tree
Base of wrench tree
Top of wrench tree
Bottom of wrench tree
(Second article)
Student welding project turns into art show.
Grand Island Senior High graduate Henry "Hank" Bartenbach is hosting a welding art show at Bartenbach Galleries in downtown Grand Island. The art, which Bartenbach describes as '50 percent art and 50 percent welding technique,' is designed and made by Bartenbach and Grand Island Senior High students, and will be for sale starting on April 20th.
Steve Vickers admits he doesn't have a lot of artistic talent. But when he tried his hand at art recently, sparks flew. Literally.
"I stick with this because it's something I know I can do," Vickers, a junior at Grand Island Senior High, said shortly after smoothing a weld on his latest art project with a metal sander, shooting sparks into the air. "This has combined everything I've learned so far. I love it."
Vickers was one of about 15 students who worked on four different art projects at GISH. The project, which involved wrapping different metal designs around straight, tall pieces of metal, was artistic in that students are creating a unique piece, and technical in that they have to use all they know about welding to create it.
Full view of daisy vine
Base of daisy vine
Bottom of daisy vine
Top of daisy vine
Henry "Hank" Bartenbach, a GISH graduate who returned and donated his time and part of the material to the project, said the project was 50 percent art and 50 percent welding techniques, which is why he thought it would be a good idea to show the public this unique hybrid.
Starting this weekend, the four pieces, plus Bartenbach's own design ( 7 1/2’ rose vine), will be on display at Bartenbach Galleries in downtown Grand Island for the show April 20th.
"I figured some of the other students who have projects could come and show them off," Bartenbach said. "I want to give Grand Island the first opportunity to see it and buy it if they want."
The four pieces designed and built by the students include a grapevine, complete with bunches of metal grapes welded to the frame, a daisy vine which is a similar concept with flowers instead of grapes, a wrench vine, which involves dozens of small wrenches bent and twisted around the frame, and a wrench tree, which has a frame built out of wrenches with other wrenches around that.
A big part of the piece was spending the necessary time to make everything stick and look good, said Bartenbach, who has a degree in heavy equipment and welding technology. On that front, the pieces turned out as well as he had hoped, and the students were able to learn a little bit as well.
"It's all about designing it," Bartenbach said. "They're designing something and learning something, but they're all having fun."
In fact, Bartenbach said several students started off on the project, but it was actually finished by a completely different set of students. What resulted was several students contributing to the unique designs.
"There is a lot of labor in it, but in the same process they're making a unique design," he said. "You can't mass produce this, and if they did it again, it would be a completely different piece."
One of the pieces (wrench vine), Bartenbach said, will stay at GISH as an example of what other welding students can do, while the others are for sale.
Full view of wrench vine
Base of wrench vine
Top of wrench vine
This is also a chance for the students who worked on the project to show it off to others who wouldn't otherwise see it. Vickers said it's an interesting feeling, to know this project will be on display. "I've never been in an art show before," he said. "That will be fun."
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