Metal sculpture artist Preston Parrott enters the “public art” arena

 

DURANGO, Colo. – Isabella is excited, though she doesn’t understand why. Marley crouches on the ledge, eyes narrowed in observation. The garage “shop” on Florida Mesa has been a veritable whirlwind of activity in recent weeks as a maquette was created – a maquette that would thrust Preston Parrott into the public art arena.

Preston Parrott’s life could indeed read like a novel, and this particular scenario – receiving a $15,000 public art grant from the City of Durango – might be a plot device to send our accidental hero off in an entirely new life direction. In reality, he’s been working toward this artistic milestone for nearly a decade.

Parrott has heard every bird joke in the book, but he could be as difficult to cage as any fine feathered friend. Some recognize him as a left-brained project manager at Lore, the international corporate training firm. Others know him as the inventive metal designer who crafted their copper range hood or countertop. He does Aikido, plays ukulele and buys books by the arm load when researching a new topic. Isabella and Marley know him as the human who puts cat kibbles in their dish and shares space in the metal sculpture shop on the Mesa.

“I’ve always gravitated to art, especially tactile stuff, sculpture,” said Parrott, who, while studying at the University of Texas at Austin, pursued a variety of disciplines – and none of them art. “I was in Austin (after graduating) doing all the corporate stuff, and I started taking little art classes to have something extra curricular to keep myself balanced.”

He happened on a flyer for a metal sculpture workshop, and in the course of six weeks, essentially apprenticing under a former welder-turned-artist, found the medium that would feed his artistic soul.

By then a successful project manager for Dell computers, Parrott was able to purchase a home. Instead of buying furniture, however, he portioned off  part of the house, built himself a welding bench and bought a torch.

“I went to the recycle center – sometimes you find some funky shapes that someone threw away and it gives you an idea. That’s how I started.”

Parrott discovered Durango during the Missionary Ridge Fire of 2002, visiting a friend who had relocated to town. It took him two years, but by 2004 he had resigned from Dell, telling his supervisors he was moving “up to the mountains to be a hippie, or whatever.”

With construction booming in Durango, doing “functional” art seemed a logical inroad to a career in town. He started with copper, covering two 18”x24” pieces with a variety of patinas, and he shopped them around as sample “countertops.” As a prospective client would request something “different,” he’d figure out how to do it. In short order, Blue Gemini Productions came into being, and today, Parrott’s functional metalwork adorns some of the finest homes in La Plata County.

During this period, he also designed additional work tables – one with a series of “brakes” or devices used to make a clean bend in metal.

“I saved a lot of money by making my own tools and would experiment – how would I do these edges… I just started playing,” he said, acknowledging his need to spread those proverbial wings. “I realized I’m not a manufacturer. I’m not somebody who can make 50 tables all the same. It drives me nuts because I’m a Gemini.”

With the scraps from his functional art he began creating fine art – gravitating to larger abstract pieces. His unique style and eye for design earned him a spot in the prestigious Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver.

“That was a big learning experience,” said Parrott, who found his architectural sculptures compared to towel racks or equally unglamorous household decor. “My stuff is so large that people don’t really know what to do with it. They think of it as outdoor art, and I really didn’t intend it for that. I really design for contemporary loft spaces or office buildings and architectural installations. People (at Cherry Creek) couldn’t make that leap.”

Parrott’s pieces are not conceived and completed over night. He begins with a basic thought, form or shape and walks through an exploratory process. The piece comes to life as the process ensues.

Said Parrott, “The vocabulary I have to explain it comes from all my study of metaphysics. To me the art is an expression or an experience of energy – a three dimensional way of expressing an energetic concept.”

Burned out from the Cherry Creek experience, and in need of steady income, Parrott surrendered to his self-proclaimed “geek” side and took the more analytical job with Lore, which he admittedly does enjoy. He continued his personal art education, however, mastering a three-dimensional rendering program to better represent his art to potential clients.

His first “outdoor” public art piece is installed at Planned Parenthood in Bodo Park. Disturbed by the negative energy often directed toward the facility, he donated the piece that now stands in the entry courtyard.

“Some pieces I want to force an interaction, require people to be involved, like a chord on a piano where you complete the chord,” said Parrott. “But with the piece at Planned Parenthood, I wanted to request an interaction and to be respectful. It just popped in.”

This first outdoor art installation provided initiative to participate in the competitive process for other public art pieces. Again learning as he went, Parrott plunged into Durango’s process, hoping to be commissioned to create the piece that would stand in front of the police substation at Three Springs. Though his conceptual drawing earned him a place in the top three, he was then required to produce an actual model or “maquette” of the sculpture.

“A lot of people hadn’t heard the word, and they looked at me weird, which is not an unusual experience anyway,” said Parrott, explaining he’d first heard the term in Europe, and discovered a book of maquettes in a Santa Fe gallery. “I like the word maquette.”

To develop the artwork, which remains unnamed, Parrott spent time at the site, though admittedly tried to limit his loitering in front of the police substation to not appear, as he said, “creepy.” He sought development of a monumental piece that would be prominent but would blend with the planned community of Three Springs. The idea of a flame kept coming through.

“I know that sounds kind of cheesy or schmaltzy, but I wanted something that felt dynamic,” he said.

The final work features a cupping of strong, patinated steel panels (the flame) surrounding a softer perforated, copper-plated steel interior, as well protruding rods to depict infinite expansion. It speaks to protection, integration and communication, though Parrott wants all those who view it to find personal meaning.

Part of Parrott’s deep connection to the piece comes from his experience in Leadership La Plata, graduating in 2008 with classmates Micki Browning, Durango Police Department, Steve List, Durango Fire & Rescue, and Matt Dodson, La Plata County Human Services.

“Getting to know people like Micki, Matt and Steve – these people who are in public service – I never really thought about how our public services touch everything,” said Parrott. “So I wanted to give people an opportunity to have an alternate perspective about what public services are. I didn’t want it to be scary, but I wanted it to feel grounded and strong, protective, and also delicate and sensitive.”

With the design complete, Parrott’s analytical side has once again come to the forefront as he delves into the project management. Conferring with structural engineers and industry professionals, he is endeavoring to make certain every detail of the mid-summer installation is plotted and planned.

“With smaller things, I can move them around, and if I change my mind, I can grind it off,” said Parrott. “But with something this large, I definitely have to get it all worked out. I’ve done the creative design art, and now it’s more about managing the project, working out all the details. I’m excited about that.”