This photo dated July 29, 2022, shows craftsmen at the Flame Run Hot Shop in the Glassworks building at 815 W. Market Street in Louisville, Ky., working on a sculpture to honor the late glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. (WDRB/Dominik Fuhrmann)
This photo dated July 29, 2022, shows craftsmen at the Flame Run Hot Shop in the Glassworks building at 815 W. Market Street in Louisville, Ky., working on a sculpture to honor the late glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. (WDRB/Dominik Fuhrmann)
This image dated July 29, 2022, shows craftsmen at the Flame Run Hot Shop in the Glassworks building at 815 W. Market Street in Louisville, Ky., working on a sculpture to honor the late glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. (WDRB/Dominik Fuhrmann)
This photo dated July 29, 2022, shows craftsmen at the Flame Run Hot Shop in the Glassworks building at 815 W. Market Street in Louisville, Ky., working on a sculpture to honor the late glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. (WDRB/Dominik Fuhrmann)
This photo dated July 29, 2022, shows craftsmen at the Flame Run Hot Shop in the Glassworks building at 815 W. Market Street in Louisville, Ky., working on a sculpture to honor the late glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. (WDRB/Dominik Fuhrmann)
The goal is to echo Powell's classic style by combining colorful discs and stainless steel.
The goal is to echo Powell's classic style by combining colorful discs and stainless steel.
This photo dated July 29, 2022, shows craftsmen at the Flame Run Hot Shop in the Glassworks building at 815 W. Market Street in Louisville, Ky., working on a sculpture to honor the late glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. (WDRB/Dominik Fuhrmann)
This photo dated July 29, 2022, shows craftsmen at the Flame Run Hot Shop in the Glassworks building at 815 W. Market Street in Louisville, Ky., working on a sculpture to honor the late glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. (WDRB/Dominik Fuhrmann)
This image dated July 29, 2022, shows craftsmen at the Flame Run Hot Shop in the Glassworks building at 815 W. Market Street in Louisville, Ky., working on a sculpture to honor the late glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. (WDRB/Dominik Fuhrmann)
This photo dated July 29, 2022, shows craftsmen at the Flame Run Hot Shop in the Glassworks building at 815 W. Market Street in Louisville, Ky., working on a sculpture to honor the late glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. (WDRB/Dominik Fuhrmann)
This photo dated July 29, 2022, shows craftsmen at the Flame Run Hot Shop in the Glassworks building at 815 W. Market Street in Louisville, Ky., working on a sculpture to honor the late glass artist Stephen Rolfe Powell. (WDRB/Dominik Fuhrmann)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Glassblowers in Louisville are putting the final touches on a sculpture that honors the late world-renowned artist and educator Stephen Rolfe Powell.
Powell, who attended Centre College in Danville, was a fixture in the city for 40 years before his death in 2019. Now, a larger-than-life tribute in the form of a sculpture is being crafted in his honor. Friday morning one of the last of 48 handmade glass discs that are part of the sculpture was crafted at the Flame Run hot shop in the Glassworks building on Market Street in downtown Louisville.
The sculpture will have a total of 48 discs.
Powell's students and admirers are crafting the massive sculpture that is 25 feet tall and 20 feet wide. The goal is to echo Powell's classic style by combining colorful discs and stainless steel. Local metal artist Dave Caudill is responsible for welding and assembling the stainless steel "ribs" of the sculpture.
It will be featured at The Stephen Rolfe Powell Sculpture Garden in Danville when complete.
Along with the sculpture, which is big enough for people to walk through, the exhibit will include a garden, a walking path, three custom-made artistic benches and a small amphitheater that will serve as an outdoor classroom.
"You'll be able to walk through it, said Brook White, the project manager for the Stephen Powell Memorial Sculpture Garden. "As you walk through it, there's going to be some other features and another surprise in the middle of the floor of the sculpture. The neck will have some LED lights on it, and hopefully it will be turning different colors in the evening and at night. And Steve I think would've loved that."
After the metal frame of the sculpture is completed, the massive piece will be transported to Danville for installation at Centre College. It will be dedicated at the school's Homecoming Celebration on Oct. 15.
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