In May, Houston’s folk art Smither Park celebrated phase two of its construction with a big artist party and, since June, Nashville-based metalsmith and woodworking artist Matt Gifford has been working on creating the “skin” for the park’s grotto-amphitheater. The park, designed by visionary architectural sculptor Dan Phillips, is located next to the Orange Show and has been in the works since 2011. Gifford, who has worked before with Phillips at his Huntsville company, is slowly and steadily transforming the amphitheater into a giant, crazy fish, partly inspired by the mosaic panels that are installed along the park’s “memory wall,” many of which have an aquatic theme.
The Orange Show has now sent out a call for materials needed for Gifford to complete the project, so check that junk out in your garage and see if you have any of the following items:
Motorcycle exhaust pipes (or anything chrome from automobiles), car tail lights/reflectors in any color, bricks, foam/packing peanuts, thin sheet metal (or small, oddly shaped, rusted anything), road signs, pallet wood, ceramic tile (large quantities of a single color, intact or broken), old farm discs, and antennas (matching pairs of any size).
Call the Orange Show at 713.926.6368 to schedule any pickups or deliveries of materials.
