Helping build the new face of Belfast

Utica company picks up project original Titanic builders couldn’t

By COURTNEY POTTS, Observer-Dispatch / Sep 29, 2008

UTICA, N.Y. - When Dan George was commissioned to create a stainless steel sculpture for the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland, he first approached Harland and Wolff, the company responsible for building the original Titanic.

But when it was unable to handle the request, he turned to Utica-based Gauthier Fabricators.

(MICHAEL LAPOLLA / Observer-Dispatch) Artist Dan George of Brooklyn puts the finishing touches on his sculpture Monday, Sept. 29, 2008, at Gauthier Fabricators on Broad Street in Utica. The sculpture will be shipped to Ireland in the near future.

George has placed sculptures throughout the U.S. and abroad, but became familiar with Gauthier Fabricators and other local businesses during his time at Sculpture Space.

“I just find it interesting that I came here for a one-month residency more than 30 years ago and at the time I didn’t realize I’d keep coming back here,” he said.

The company has been working on the $400,000, 20-foot metal sculpture for about a month.

George’s sculpture features one complete ring and several other arcs of steel, which “are at various stages of becoming a complete ring,” he said. Geographic and cultural features of Northern Ireland influenced the design, but George said he prefers to let the public create its own interpretations.

“People look at it and they say, ‘OK, what is it?’” he said. “If you tell them, they stop looking at it.”

George said he hopes to disassemble and ship the sculpture within the next three weeks and to have it fully installed in Belfast by the end of November.

The sculpture is the first in a series of public art projects to be commissioned for the Northern Ireland Department of Social Development’s “Belfast: Streets Ahead” program and was chosen over two other concepts by public vote, said Ronan Corrigan, project sponsor with the department.

“We’re sort of delighted about that because the people have spoken and the people have chosen this one,” he said. “So let’s hope the people of Belfast will look after it. And I’m sure they will.”

The goal of the Belfast program, he said, is to renew public spaces in the city now that “the troubles,” about 30 years of civil conflict, have come to an end. As part of the program, Northern Ireland has set aside 500,000 pounds, the equivalent of about $901,000 dollars, for public art projects.

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