Statues in progress.
Thanks to the work of the Weber Group, a design, construction and specialty fabrication company, Gallopalooza 2009 features four new horse designs that bring fresh hooves to the streets. A fifth new design was developed for Gallopalooza by America's Fiberglass Animals. Each design gives the artists a distinctive canvas to bring their visions of “Possibility City” to life.
Gallopalooza’s horses come into being through the process of clay maquettes and reinforced Styrofoam models. These original designs were molded especially for Gallopalooza and then produced in fiberglass by three different companies: Vanaire, The Glass Hand, and America's Fiberglass Animals.
Concept artists begin with two-dimensional sketches of the horses. Sculptors take over from there and begin with clay maquettes to study how the pieces might be structured and posed. From these tiny maquettes, life-size horses are carved from a single block of reinforced Styrofoam. Carpenters and project managers insert steel structures so the poses “on the move” are stable. The models are hard-coated and finally molded, some in as many as 18 different molded pieces, and then glassed together with fiberglass to create a seamless canvas for Gallopalooza’s artists to work upon.
Located in the Greater Louisville Metro area and celebrating 25 years in business, Weber Group specializes in zoo, hotel, theme park, waterpark, museum, and holiday event design, construction, and themeing. Their wide range of clients includes: the Columbus and Louisville Zoos, Great Wolf Resorts, Mercedes-Benz, Nickelodeon, Six Flags and Paramount Parks throughout the U.S.
