Meg and I flew up to Alaska to install her 27,000 lb. American Lion at University Alaska Anchorage.
We flew out of Louisville on Tuesday morning July 21.
On this trip we saw lots of great public art at various airports; not much in Louisville but plenty in Atlanta and Anchorage on the trip up. On the way back we were routed through Denver and Chicago. My favorite airport art was an installation of large Shona stone sculptures in Atlanta.
They were all creative and compositionally excellent - but this "Leap Frog" sculpture really pushed the envelope with the top figure held up by the 2 thin wrists. I don't know how they moved it without breaking it!
The trip up made for a 22 hour day! (...and about 26 hours coming back!)
On Wednesday, we met her contact person at the site and reviewed the installation process. Then, we got tools from a rental shop and supplies from a local hardware store. With some time on our hands, we went a short distance to the south of town and checked out the boardwalk over Potter's Marsh.
We finally made contact with the semi that had the sculpture and drove north to meet them to inspect the piece after the 4,000 mile trip. Finding the sculpture in perfect condition we explored Eagle River while on the north side of Anchorage. We drove back to Anchorage and ended day 2 with our traditional celebratory pizza.
Meg will show pictures of her installation on her blog (link to the right). That basically took up most of Thursday. After the installation we were treated to dinner at a Thai restaurant by her contact person and an art director from the local art council.
Friday, she had a "meet and greet" as well as 2 newspaper and 3 TV interviews at the site. That evening, we drove north out of town after sealing the installed sculpture: signed, sealed and delivered. We took a 1 mile trail back to Thunderbird Falls; a great way to unwind after all that.
...and a little further to the North, we stopped and took a slow stroll along Knik River. That 4th day ended in Palmer, Alaska where we found a place for the night, having stayed the first 3 nights in student housing at UAA.
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