A Brush with History | Precision Brush

Credit to The City of Durango for the Video

Recently the American Brush Manufacturers Association celebrated its 100th anniversary. With the help of the Durango Arts Centers David Carr, Maureen May and Sandra Butler wanted to create a piece of art to commemorate the occasion. After some thought they settled on a sculpture of a carousel in honor of all of the horse hair that has been such a part of brushes for so long. Once the design was settled on and the concepts were drawn out they researched the types of brushes made by the American Brush Manufactures hundreds of brush making companies.

With hundreds of brush styles to choose from they set about the daunting task of laying out sketches of brush horses for their project. With the donations from business like Precision Brush and many others they had all the brushes they needed. Everything from antique brushes to paint brushes and brooms were donated to create this work of art. The team tried to use every single type of donated brush they were given. Even a car mop brush was used for a decorative tail for one of the horses.

The next step was to work with the engineers to give the concept motion. The team set about to make a working platform for the carousel as well as armatures to bring the statues to life. Once that was complete the next task was to assemble the statues with brushes of all shapes and sizes types. The team set to building the sculpture and made sure that every type of brush that they were given would be used in the sculpture. Slowly it all began to come together and the two horses and the donkey took shape. The whole piece is estimated to have used over a thousand brushes to complete. 

The brush jokes and puns too much to resist and from it the idea of the theme “A brush with History” came about and could not be brushed off. The Durango Art Center put a lot of themselves into this project as well. The Carousel much like any traditional ride is whimsical and fun as well as colored vibrantly. This sculpture celebrates the long-standing relationship between horses, brushes, Durango and the ABMA. This work of art was created for and displayed at the ABMA’s Anniversary Convention in March 2017 in Orlando, Florida.

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