The Catalyst sculpture located right outside Minnetrista gathering place has seen some better days.
Through nearly a decade of harsh weather, the memorial has fallen into a state of disrepair.
Recently, two companies, GRT Glass Design and Bo-Mar Custom Metal Fabrication, took on the assignment of restoring the piece to look “better than new,” said Minnetrista’s Director of Collections Karen Vincent.
The sculpture was initially commissioned by Virginia B. Ball to commemorate the life of her late husband, Edmund F. Ball. In the early 1990s, she picked artist Beverly Stucker Precious.
The pair immediately went to the drawing board to come up with ideas, though the idea of a statue was out of the question.
“Virginia didn’t want a statue of Ed and I’d bet Ed didn’t want a statue of Ed,” Vincent said. “There was nothing traditional about either Ed or Virginia.”
Virginia strived for something more “free-form” and something that could “inspire the community to achieve great things.” After choosing between two drawings, she settled on a sculpture that she felt would do exactly that.
She decided on the Catalyst, a spherical structure that used glass in a way that would project light and produce an array of colors.
However, Virginia died before the construction of the piece was complete. Upon its completion, Minnetrista officials decided the Catalyst would not be a tribute to Edmund, but a memorial to both of them.
For the past 14 years the sculpture, complete with dichroic glass that blends colors together with limestone and stainless steel, has stood at the front of Minnetrista.
Over the course of its lifetime, however, it has lost its shimmer due to dirt and moisture infiltrating the glass.
“Indiana weather is tough on anything that’s outside,” Vincent said.
Hail and heavy storms led to several broken window panes and a noticeable amount of rust appearing on the stainless steel.
The project of restoring the Catalyst started on Sept. 5. Since then, Greg Thompson, the founder of GRT Glass Design, and his team have removed every piece of glass from the structure, where they will be used as templates to fabricate new pieces.
The several months that follow will be spent cutting and fusing the new glass after they have made templates. With all the new glass prepared, they will laminate it to prevent any further damages.
Minnetrista looks to recycle the old pieces of glass by using them in its Glass Workshop events that happen throughout the year.
Thompson hopes to have the glass installed sometime in March due to the winter weather having an affect on the contraction and expansion of the framing and adhesion.
When spring comes, the newly fabricated glass will be transported to Minnetrista and carefully installed. Thompson said the restoration will be a “very labor-intensive process” for him and his team.
In 2004, when the sculpture was first installed, the completion of the project cost around $900,000. To restore the piece, it is estimated to cost around $150,000.
Bo-Mar Custom Metal Fabrications will be working at Minnetrista to remove any stains or signs of rust.
“We are just anxious to have the sculpture look the way it did when it was installed,” Vincent said.
Contact Chase Martin with comments at cgmartin@bsu.edu.
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