Thar' She Blooms!

Extreme weather with blizzard-like conditions and high wind warnings threatened to delay the installation of my public art sculpture yet again this week. On Friday, weather forecasters were predicting a nasty storm front to hit south central Alaska and leave as much as a half foot of snow in it’s wake but thankfully we were somewhat spared. The weather cleared, the crew was on time and prepared for the sculpture to be erected and installed this morning in just under 45 minutes! It felt a lot like preparing and eating our Thanksgiving dinner because a project that’s been in the works for over a year was up and permanently installed in less time than it took to warm up the truck!

On hand was Peter M. (pictured with me) from SteelFab Alaska, Mo J. and his associate Don, the lift operators, Jocelyn Y. from the Municipality, along with Daddy-O, Gus and I. Everyone was calm, professional and cold –clear skies meant the temps were dipping at the 10 degree mark. The recent storm left the Bloom covered in a bit of ice and snow but that should be melted off within the next few days as our weather takes a warming trend. Truthfully, I would have taken more photos or had

celebratory beverages under the sculpture but we were all so cold after the sculpture was up we couldn’t wait to hop back in our warm trucks! Special thanks to everyone including, Peter, Dan and crew at SteelFab Alaska, Mo J. & Company, Franklin & Assoc., and the M.O.A. Public Art Department whose expertise and professional services made this sculpture possible. As the morning sunshine reflected the Bloom in the tall windows of the CU1 building it was a wonderful site to see this baby finally planted and FINISHED!