Young Women’s Leadership Academy students worked hard and long preparing 24,000 donated water bottles for a giant sculpture coming together in the basement of the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.
Alongside New Jersey artist Willie Cole, the students made the pile of bottles needing to be prepped smaller and smaller. With heat guns, the students punctured holes in the bottom of the bottles, preparing them to be strung together with wire in the next phase of the Tarrant County Education Foundation art project.
Cole, who arrived in Fort Worth on Oct. 23, taught the students how to prepare the bottles. The project is expected to be completed by March 2024 and on display at the community arts center through the end of that month.
Cole’s next visit to Fort Worth will be in March 2024, Barnett said. By that time, students will have prepped the water bottles, strung them together with wire into sheets and be prepared to finally construct the sculpture.
Cole has done water bottle sculptures in the past, both by himself and with area students in New Jersey.
“This is monotonous work. I can see how it can be boring. I’m usually in front of the television when I’m prepping bottles,” Cole said. “We need (students) to be steady to get this project done.”
Cristian ArguetaSoto is the community engagement journalist at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him by email or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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Fort Worth students prep bottles for art project with world-renowned artist
by Cristian ArguetaSoto, Fort Worth Report October 31, 2023
Cristian is a May 2021 graduate of Texas Christian University. At TCU, ArguetaSoto served as staff photographer at TCU360 and later as its visual editor, overseeing other photojournalists. A Fort Worth...
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