ARC MAGAZINE

Fabrication Of A Mammoth Nature

The area of Western Pennsylvania surrounding Conneaut Lake, located about 100 miles north of Pittsburgh, has endured its share of economic hardships during recent decades. But local artist Amara Geffen hopes a new sculpture, a life-sized woolly mammoth, will serve as the inspiration for a renaissance.

Geffen, an art professor at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, spent 18 months seeking community stories, researching local history and exploring numerous ideas before deciding on the design. She chose a woolly mammoth because bones of the extinct creature can be found at the bottom of Conneaut Lake.

Geffen calls the sculpture Ganesh, a name taken from a Hindu deity that is revered as the "Remover of Obstacles." To bring Ganesh to life, she tapped the fabrication and creative skills of Craig Newell Welding in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. For six months, from July to December 2016, fabricators Ben Post and Alan Sherman, under the guidance of owner Craig Newell, spent a combined 1,000-plus hours on the build, standing at the top of ladders, lying on the floor, and working inside and outside the sculpture’s frame to physically capture Geffen's vision.

Since Ganesh was destined for the outdoors, the alloy selection was easy, ASTM A588 Cor-Ten® weathering steel – a popular alloy for outdoor designs because it develops a layer of rust that, when exposed to the elements, creates a protective coating to prevent future corrosion and eliminate the need for maintenance.

Geffen developed a 3-D scan of a small woolly mammoth model and used it to design and plan for a full-scale metal jig. Half-inch round rods were bent and wrapped around the jig to create a surface reminiscent of woven vines. The structure was overlaid with 175 steel rods, 20 feet in length. Excerpts from community stories and local history were water-jet cut into stainless steel and welded onto the sculpture. Post and Sherman generated an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 MIG welds.

Ganesh stands 10.5 feet high, 18 feet from tusks to tail, and 7 feet wide. It weighs 3,500 pounds.

Post and Sherman describe the sculpture as “a totally different experience ”from the routine jobs that usually come through the shop. “It was a great project to work on,” Sherman points out. “I’ll probably never build something so big again.”

Ganesh made the 20-mile trip from Craig Newell Welding to Conneaut Lake’s Fireman’s Beach in December. Geffen says community response to the sculpture has been positive, and she hopes other sculptures will eventually join Ganesh to form the core of an economic renewal.

“Ganesh is doing what art is intended to do,” she says. “It’s adding to a location in a way that makes people really want to go there.”