toledoblade.com --

With the simple elements of earth and fire, an exciting project mobilized the creative energy of artists and students through the fall.

Starting in early September, dozens of hands rolled hundreds of clay logs that were 3 inches thick by 2 feet long, and laid them into coils, starting at a base 7 1/2 feet in diameter and rising to a cone more than 9 feet tall.

"This is essentially a huge coil pot, like a huge bowl upside down," said Tom Lingeman, sculpture professor at the University of Toledo.

And during three days in October, in a grassy, overlooked corner on the grounds of the Toledo Museum of Art, Urban Cairn was fired with a cord of hardwood. The Hobbit-like sculpture commands a spot above the urban canyon of northbound I-75 between the Collingwood and Bancroft exits, from where its ochre tip can be seen.

"We were looking at a number of artists," said Mr. Lingeman. "We wanted to build a permanent piece on site and to create more visibility for the area, to develop a sculpture garden, and to motivate sculpture students."

The visiting artist would have to be a communicator, skilled at working with students of varying skill levels. "We put [their names] before the faculty and the students and asked their opinions, and resoundingly they approved Laurie Spencer."

Twenty years earlier, Ms. Spencer, an Oklahoman, came to town to fabricate Phoenix Cairn, the big clay hive in Toledo Botanical Garden.

"We had a good track record with Laurie Spencer," said Mr. Lingeman, noting that in 1989, she worked on the local project with student interns, including Mark Moffett who is now a technical assistant at UT's Center for Sculptural Studies.

The current project was funded by a $10,000 strategic enhancement grant from UT.

A cairn is a mound of stones erected as a memorial or marker. Long ago, they were built as sepulchral monuments or used for practical or astronomical purposes. In modern times, they may be landmarks or art.

When Ms. Spencer arrived in Toledo for three days in September, images of her work were displayed in the sculpture center for students to study.

"She had a range of ideas and several models that we presented to the students. We discussed those options with students and about 30 students drew their own options," said Mr. Lingeman. "Spencer combined their ideas into a synthesis and created a new model. I told the students, 'Remember, what we want to come away with is a Laurie Spencer.'•"

She detailed a drawing with measurements for each coil. "It's inherently strong. It's based on a catenary arch form," similar to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, he said.

The project was also an experiment in collaboration for Ms. Spencer, 50. A teacher at Holland Hall prep school in Tulsa, she has a 9-year-old son and doesn't like being away from home for long stretches during the school year. She would have to hand-off construction.

"It was the first time I've worked that way, where I've turned it over to someone else," she said.

Students built a wooden framework for the piece. They poured a cement foundation 6 inches deep by 7 1/2 inches wide.

Karen Roderick-Lingeman, a ceramics lecturer at UT, traveled across the state to supervise the mixing of 6,000 pounds of clay according to Ms. Spencer's specifications. "It had a lot of grog in it, which is fired-clay sand that reduces the amount of shrinkage," said Mr. Lingeman, who is married to Ms. Roderick-Lingeman.

The team scrutinized weather forecasts, planning around rain and cold, heat and wind, all of which affect pliable clay. "You work against the issue of the clay drying from the bottom to the top," he said.

Calculations about structural strength, the kiln, and air flow in and out of the structure during firing were worked out, and e-mails wore a path between Toledo and Tulsa.

By Oct. 6, the cairn stood 9 feet tall, peppered with teardrop-shaped openings, and preparations began for the dramatic on-site firing. Inside, a 2-foot-deep ash pit was dug and covered with a grate. Three underground air-intake pipes were installed along with four 20-foot-tall outtake pipes (eight-inch ducts) fitted with dampers to control temperature and draft. To improve airflow, the cairn's cap was removed and placed inside for firing.

For seven days, bags of charcoal smoldered in the teepee-like space.

Ms. Spencer returned to Toledo for a week to supervise construction of the kiln and firing. The kiln was built from rolls of dense fiber glass insulation that were given form by being attached to a heavy, wire mesh. The giant "blanket" was set six inches from the cairn, and wired to 12-foot-tall scaffolding that encircled the structure.

On October 15, they turned up the heat: Every 30 minutes, six pieces of firewood were shoved down a steel slide into the cairn.

"We built that fire hotter and hotter and hotter, until it got to 2,000 degrees," said Mr. Lingeman.

When scores of people participating in an arts Meet & Greet event came by to observe on Oct. 16, it was an inferno. The temperature climaxed before sunrise, Oct. 17, and they stopped feeding the fire. Five hours later, the temp had dropped to 1,000 degrees and was held there for three hours.

By Oct. 18, the temp had dropped to 250, and pipes, scaffolding, and the temporary kiln were removed. Upon inspection, there were few cracks: The firing was a success.

"I think it came out fantastic," said Ms. Spencer.

The biggest challenge, said Mr. Lingeman, was sustaining continuous creative energy. "Doing this day after day for a good month and a half," he said. "I think we had a very motivated crew."

Urban Cairn can be seen behind UT's Center for Sculptural Studies, a cast-concrete rectangle at 535 Oakwood Ave. near Collingwood Blvd. at the east entrance of the museum. The gate is open during daylight hours while the university is in session.

More images are at utoledo.edu/as/art/index.html

Contact Tahree Lane at:
tlane@theblade.com
or 419-724-6075.

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