“Our World” By Alex Bond
Alex Bond
I was born in Manitou Springs, CO and I am proud to have called Colorado home for most of my 35 years. I’m a family man in love with my 2 dogs and the steady presence of inner and outer beauty that is my wife. I appreciate diversity and I invite diversity in all rooms of my self and the world, especially in art. I typically play with wood, stone, and metal and my style is sporadic, raw, and rebellious. I have a good eye for lines and curves and I’m bad with rulers and levels. I am an art addict with a burled heart and fire in my soul.
‘Our World’ is the education, design, construction, and installation of a collaborative metal sculpture created by a diverse group of multigenerational Durango creatives. In conjunction with the Durango MakerLab and the City of Durango, award winning and professional metal artist Alex Bond offered an 8 week after-school program at the Durango MakerLab focused on welding, forging, and metalsmithing. The experiential and project-based coursefocused on the completion of a 3.5 foot diameter, spherical, and steel public sculpture representing planet earth, or ‘Our World’. Design elements will constitute a mosaic of industrial scrap metal and will showcase the interwoven diversity of our sacred and special world.
The project took place at the Durango MakerLab and included youth ages 13 to 18 alongside intergenerational adult mentors. Project participants gained increased confidence and a sense of belonging alongside technical and creative skill building. Upon completion of the globe, the cohort collaborated with the City of Durango to install the finished piece on an existing and city-owned pedestal. Currently, Alex Bond has installed a separate public installation on 12th Street and 2nd Avenue as part of the Durango Art Brigade. That sculpture, which is also spherical and steel in form and material, will be utilized as a template for participants to become inspired to create meaningful public art. The project inspired collaboration across a quilt work of creative disciplines and artistic institutions in the four corners. ‘Our World’ is a celebration of artistic and human diversity.
