Crayon Wildfire Sculptures By Herb Williams
Herb Williams is an artist who not only has a unique style. He tells a unique story with his art. Back in October 2011, the artist from Nashville, Tennessee created an art installation to raise wildfire awareness following the devastating fires that hit Bastrop County last summer. The installation took place at the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock, Texas (part of Texas Tech University) and was entitled “Unwanted Visitor: Portrait of Wildfire.” Herb used Crayola crayons to create multiple 3-D sculptures representing wildfires that melted and changed shape in the Texas weather conditions.
Emily Arellano, project coordinator and manager of education at the NRHC said that “Our focus was to creatively educate the public about the causes of wildfire both environmental and human, the effects of wildfire on the environment, wildfire prevention, and the purpose of prescribed burning.”
Some of the larger sculptures towered at 8 feet tall and the colorful crayons hinted at the isolated wildfire set against a stark, brown landscape. This project was supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and through funds raised through Kickstarter (look out for Origin of Cool’s Kickstarter project coming soon!).
Incidentally, Herb is entered in the “Art Takes Time Square” competition. If he gets enough votes, a photo of the wildfire installation will be on display in Times Square. Click here for more info.
Herb was good enough to shoot a short video for Origin of Cool. Here it is!
To learn more about the NRHC, visit www.NRHC.ttu.edu
Big thank you to Emily Arellano who curated the original installation. She was the catalyst for making this article happen!
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