IN THE MEDIA

Imagine a place where sculptures by legendary artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Keith Haring, as well as up-and-comers like Hank Willis Thomas, who was recently selected to design Boston’s new memorial to Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King, are all housed under one roof. One might instinctively conjure images of a museum in New York or a gallery in London, but it’s safe to say most people’s first guess would not be a mid-sized fabrication shop on the East Providence waterfront owned by a former boat builder.

Contributing Reporter, Bill Bartholomew profiles art fabricator, Paul Amaral, following his journey from farming to boat building to builder of big public art. Helping iconic artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Keith Haring realize their artistic vision, Amaral has built nearly 1,000 pieces that adorn public spaces in New England and around the world.

Paul Amaral was a busy boat builder working at a marine manufacturing firm in Bristol Rhode Island… An artist appeared with a wooden maquette (a model for a larger piece of sculpture) of a spoon with a cherry at the tip. “He was looking for someone to build a 50-foot sculpture of the design out of aluminum and steel,” says Amaral… The resulting artwork, Spoonbridge and Cherry, by husband-and-wife team Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen… went on to become one of the most recognized pieces of 20th-century public art.

The sculpture, titled “Hydro,” is composed of its “solid gateway section,” inspired by the form of a turbine that Lincoln-based artist Nancy Selvage once viewed. The rest represents “water falling, and swirling, and flowing,” the sculptor said while standing alongside the towering art piece.