Bull City Cool, in Bull City proper, would be incomplete without… (say it with me)… a Bull. Luckily local metal artist Tom Dawson was up to the task of crafting one to both guard the food hub with a pitch fork, and reflect our historic building’s colorful history.
Read on to learn more in this guest post by the artist himself.
Is it a secret that all old farms had welding shops?
A farm isn’t a just choreographed dance between plants and animals, but also a greasy armada of equipment, machines and tools. All of which are always breaking down… always. So rather than drive to the store or mechanic, farmers fix it themselves and keep the dance moving. Eventually, the piles of things that need fixing grow smaller. The farmer/welder might even get a little bored and starts looking at the clutter of spare parts, the tillers, the harrows, the brake drums, the bike parts, and railroad spikes. On rare occasions, a great shining whirligig might come out of this odd winter’s work or a colorful critter… or something stranger they don’t explain, but it just needed building. Friends come over to share beers, help heave it into position and gawk. Folklore grows around it like dandelion weeds.
I found the dusty welding shop day one on my summer on the Graves’ dairy farm in Sink’s Groves, West Virginia. I encountered my first bull in the fields on the one mile walk to the internet. I heard the bull-roar and backed away real slow and never forgot the chill of fear in my spine. The bull which now stands in front of the food hub is a lean, wild assemblage of parts that once worked in Durham: bike cogs from the Durham Bike Co-op, brake drums from our mechanics, antique agricultural equipment from our fields. Your bull is a working sculptural counterpoint to the seamless (subsidized) corn-fed Wall Street Bull.
For me the exciting part of the sculpture was the community that was tested and revealed around the installation. I called in many favors on short (Sunday morning) notice. Al Frega, a renowned artist, guided and supported every step the bull installation and re-installation. (We moved it to site in the front when we decided it looked too lean from below. Also… it was mooning Magnum.) Rob Walpole, a contractor and a guiding light of the Bike Co-Op, helped move the bull in position on top of the pole while I welded it in-place 15’ above Mangum Street. Rob later helped put out my pants when I caught them on fire. Daniel Bagnell, Jeff Zern and Ann Woodard helped load the bull from the Scrap Exchange. Katherine Gill, from Tributary Design Build, loaned the right truck at the right time. Sean Lily Wilson, Chief Optimist at Fullsteam Brewery, lent his forklift not once but twice, making the install possible. Peter Skillern, from Reinvestment Partners, commissioned the work and provided an essential critical eye when mine was flash-blinded.
At one point I actually lassoed the bull, which was 15’ in the air, before Al cut the support pole with a blow torch. This is adventure building. The great thing about a lengthy, fiery hot and bizarre install is that you meet Durhamites stopping by to gawk, comment and chat. I could talk to them about the exciting new venture that is the Bull City Cool Food Hub, a venture that I am proud to have been a part of. Thanks Durham! May your folklore grow like dandelions.
A great article by a great visionary!