It will be 80 feet of undulating steel, glass and wood.

Thursday, April 12, 2001

It will be 80 feet of undulating steel, glass and wood.

Artist Mark Hall unveiled the final design for the art wall at Albert Lea High school Monday, and met with overwhelming approval, he said.

Hall, who has been working for months on the design, played with a lot of ideas, and even departed from his original sketch for a time, he said. But in the end, it was that original sketch that guided him to his final design.

&uot;The committee was excited all along about that original sketch, and I returned to it when I got stuck,&uot; Hall said Wednesday from his studio in Kasota, Minn. &uot;I’m really convinced this wall is going to be stunning.&uot;

Hall showed the Comprehensive Arts Planning Committee, the group overseeing the art wall project, a framed and matted painting of his plans for the wall. Hall said the design stage is complete, and he will begin collecting materials for the piece.

&uot;I think the times of warm and fuzzy are over. Now we have a task to complete, and I’m anxious to get going,&uot; Hall said.

Hall was commissioned last fall to design and build the art wall, a long stretch of space located opposite the administration entrance on the school’s southwest side. The piece will actually be installed on the outside wall of the school’s gymnasium in the same area as the new bronze tiger.

Hall said the piece will begin in a single point at the wall’s west end near a staircase and flow to the other end, widening as it approaches the hallway. Consistent with his original sketches, the piece will involve several lines made of steel that will frame pieces of pale green plate glass. Using angles and texture, each piece of glass will have a different character.

Hall will also use mesh-like expanded metal and pieces of opaque colored glass fashioned by high school art students. These smaller pieces will add color and variety to the overall design.

&uot;I’m basically working with a two-dimensional piece, so I’m planning several different methods to give it the illusion of depth,&uot; Hall said.

Hall said he still welcomes community involvement, and his design has enough flexibility and room for creativity to accommodate more individual work. At the same time he won’t stray from his overall design.

&uot;I want to give people who are interested in contributing the time to get inspired. I don’t want to push this project at the expense of quality and character,&uot; Hall said.

Chosen from a field of 10 artists, Hall is a stained-glass artisan who has done work throughout the region. He is purposely reluctant to give a deadline or even a time line for the project.

&uot;I’ve been through this before, and it’s important to do a piece or art work of this scale right the first time,&uot; Hall said.

Hall’s design will be on display at the ALHS grand opening April 22.