Concrete folk art in Northern Wisconsin
September 3rd, 2008 by Rebecca Wasieleski. Posted in Concrete Contractor
I made a trip to Northern Wisconsin over the Labor Day holiday weekend and couldn’t help but make a quick stop at the Wisconsin Concrete Park in Phillips, Wis. The park is home to more than 200 concrete sculptures by self-taught artist Fred Smith. Smith built his sculptures out of wood frames wrapped with wire then covered with hand-mixed concrete. He added broken glass, mirrors and other found objects to decorate his art. The sculptures tell stories of local, national and world history. It’s a fun place to explore folk art and nature, and a unique way to look at concrete.
Concrete artists of today, such as Buddy Rhodes, Fu-Tung Cheng, and the countless other concrete contractors creating beautiful decorative concrete in bathrooms, kitchens and outdoor living areas across the country, have a different take on concrete as art. But like Fred Smith, today’s concrete artists appreciate the versatility of concrete, it’s connection to recycled and found materials, and it’s ability to transform an artist’s dream into reality.
November 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 am
I’ve been in the concrete products business for a long time.I developed a concrete art product which is excellent for sculpture.You mix Portland cement,sand and vermiculite in various proportions.When it hardens you have a good sculpture material to work on.The more vermiculite you put in it the softer it becomes.Soft enough to carve with a spoon if yopu add enough.Great stuff for budding sculptors to work with.JM.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Vermiculite is habitually mixed with cement in Europe to make fire bricks. In the US you seem to have a different type, any thoughts?