How Much is This Wall?

I'm sure you have heard various numbers bandied about as to the cost of the Whole Wall Brick Mural Project. One proposal at the time of artist selection came in at $350,000. Current retail pricing would put this project at $500,000 plus tax. To our knowledge, it is the largest single brick mural in the United States.

The artist, Catharine Magel, has been working on this project for at least 5 years. The carving phase took 2 years, 2007-2008 and now in the third year is to be completed this June 2009. The Cloud County community has contributed over half the cost of the project in volunteered time, services, and materials.

To date: monies applied to this commission:
Artist to design and carve the project $70,000
With installation supervision: 6 weeks $9,000
Mason contract to install the mural: $40,000
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Total: $116,000

High Noon on the Wall

Contemplating the Mural over Coffee

Catbarine reviews the nearing completion of the Wall

FYI:Volunteer Hours for The Whole Wall Project

THE WHOLE WALL PROJECT: 2300 sq/ft approx 94 ft of the wall is 14'4" high/ the last 40' is 21'+ tall/ minus the approx 56 sq ft doorway area

BRICK: Mark Collette at Cloud Ceramics kept up with all the brick production, scheduled delivery and pickup, and drilling of the carved pieces after they came back to the plant. I think Mark and a couple of their guys drilled approx 45,000 holes to aid in the drying of the brick pieces before firing. It took three days to drill out the 7 palettes of carved pieces returned to the brick yard each week. He indicated they wore out one drill press and a good dozen 2' augur bits on the project.
He said Cloud Ceramics had 2000 man hours in labor at the completion of carving date 4/08 @ $15/hr= $30,000

Brick supplied: approx 7000 brick/shims/drilling/drying/firing/

palletizing/storage/delivery( I'll use the difference subtracting their labor from the $20/sq ft that I pay in Seattle from the $46K....$16,000)
Easel: Cloud Ceramics also built/supplied at their expense the 8' x 20' easel assembled at CCCC for the project . Mark's guess on 2 days, 2 guys time/materials $1000
Shipping & Delivery: Cloud Ceramics trucked the green brick to the studio, picked up the carved brick, and the 6000#s of clay removed in the process of carving each week $1000
Mural Storage: for the panel since carving completion in April 2008/ 1 year@ $1000
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Various Sculpture Brick Pricing Comparisons:
Pricing charged for brick to be sculptured before the artist begins carving. Sculpture bricks are moved an average of 9-11 times before they are installed in the wall, so, very labor intensive.
Seattle Brick from Mutual Materials at $20/ sq ft = $46,667 ( includes brick, drying, firing, storage, packaging to ship)
Nebraska's Endicott Clay Products at $90/ sq ft for double deep brick = $210,000( includes brick,lay up /take down with numbering, drying,firing,storage,invoicing, packaging for shipment
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THE STUDIO @ CCCC Art Dept: Volunteer space for a year( I think Catharine began in Feb 07- Apr 08....studio space, heat, light, phone and computer, fax, water, restrooms, and interesting people...maybe $400/mo) approx $4800

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VOLUNTEER HELP at Cloud County Community College Studio:
Project of 17 Layup Sections

Barbara Steven's College Crew Layup:
Ave 6 people x 4 hrs x $7/hr wage(minimum according to Dave Walker paid at the college) = $168 x 17 sections = $2856 Labor
Dana Brewer's Takedown Crew;
Ave 10 people(included 2 artists/ pricing not in contract) x 6 hrs x $7/hr wage x 17 sections = $7140
Dave Walker's Supervision /General Guy Friday/ Supply requisition/Toolmaking/ Cleanup at CCCC/ beyond his regular duties at the school: 200 hrs @ $7/hr = $1400
Aline Luecke's Daily Photo Documentation: 1 hr @ $10/hr x 7 weekdays x 17 sections during carving phase = $1190 (doesn't count web work/emailing progress pix)
Tammy Britt's & Aline's Daily Photo Documentation and Blog update for 6 weeks during installation $1000
Disassembly of carving easel at CCCC and storage: $500
Volunteer Apprentice Labor: (all helpers averaging $7/hr min wage x 20 hrs/week x ave 24 weeks) = $3360
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MUSEUM Artist in Residence, 117 E 7th St, Concordia,KS: Although project took a year span to complete the carving, artists were there for about 6 months and for the 1-2 months for the current installation. Rent and utilities/ just a guess $300/mo x 7 = $2100 (feel free to update if you have a better assessment).
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WORKSHOPS & PRESENTATIONS:
Catharine charges $500/day for lectures/workshops + travel expenses
Mara charges $500/day + travel expenses for workshops
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Catharine's School Group Tour at CCCC 07
CCCC Evening Presentation Update/ Mara 10/07
Concordia and Clyde High School presentations/Mara 10/07
Pottery Demo Workshop /Mara 07
6+ Coffee and Cookie Community Thurs Evenings with Guest Carver Opps 07-08
10+ Guest Apprentice Opportunities(as little time as 30 minutes to hours/days/weeks (Aline Luecke, Barbara Stevens, Lisa Guerra, Sam Deal (although totally blind), Carol Urban, Richard and Phylis Cyphers, Dave Walker, Marinella Hemenway, Jennifer Tashkent,Mark Morgan, Scott and Lori Halfhide, Jim Bourne, and a number of others I have yet to recall. Please remind us if you helped carve.)
6+ Tours of Work in Progress with hands on Carving/ Concordia High students/Clyde High School students as "the Skyrakers"/ Cat Scratch Video Shoot/Others
2 Radio/TV Interviews
CCCC Cook Auditorium Slide Show for 300 all area students on Working Artists' Career and Business + Workshop: Catharine and Mara

Catharine and Mara have donated small animal mold designs and whole brick figure prototypes that can be made to generate income from donations

Average 6 major lectures/workshops @ $500 each= $3000

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ARTISTS EXPENSES SUPPLIED:
Meals/House supplies /Catharine $1000
Meals/Supplies /Mara $1000
Other Sculptors in 07 /Meals/Transportation $1500
Transportation,car and gas/ Catharine $3000
Flights to/ from Seattle,WA/ Mara $1000
Blog/ www.thewallproject.com
Own insurances
Computer DSL to the house $315
Cell phones: Mara @15/mo $90 Catharine $300
Personal carving tools: Mara/$400 Catharine/$300

Amount volunteered so far....$85,251 to $246,251 pre tax, depending on comparative brick company pricing.

Feel free to add anything I forget!

Community Foundation Donates Funds For Whole Wall

Thursday, May 21, 2009: This morning the Community Foundation presented a check to the Cloud County Historical Society Museum for $7500 toward the Whole Wall Project. Catharine & Mara both were present to witness the presentation.

Tribute to Cloud Ceramics

This photo shows only a small portion of the "Tribute to Cloud Ceramics" depicted on the Whole Wall. The Whole Wall Project would not have been possible without the generous support, donations, labor, and oversight of Cloud Ceramics. During the three years the projects has been underway Cloud Ceramics' commitment to the project has been exceptional. They have worked tirelessly to make sure the production, firing, packaging and delivery of the bricks has gone smoothly. Many times they have gone above and beyond to make the project possible.

Nearing Completion

Monday, May 18, 2009: While scaffolding, fencing, stacks of bricks, and other equipment block the view of the Whole Wall, spectators can still get a great view of many of the scenes as they unfold. Great weather has helped move the project along much quickly than anyone imagined.

Concordia Elementary Third Graders Visit the Wall

This week the Concordia Elementary third graders are visiting the Whole Wall. While Lisa Guerra, Cloud County Museum curator, was speaking to them about the wall, they all lined up to touch the wall. The girls compared their hand size to the pioneer woman's hand while the boys each took turns picking the nose of the miners.

How often to you get to touch a work of art?

Thursday, May 14, 2009

This morning the sunflowers greeted us upon arrival. As the scaffolding is moved the dramatic entrance to the museum is being revealed.

The Future home of the Whole Wall is quickly becoming the present!

Even with the rain the wall is going up very quickly. Soon the "Future Home of the Whole Wall" will disappear and the "Whole Wall" will become the present.

While they may not appreciate the comparison, watching David and Brian work together is like watching a well practiced dance. Without words they work side by side. The onlooker becomes hypnotized with the rhythm in which these two scoop and toss the mortar onto the row of bricks. Moments later one realizes that another row of bricks are in place and the puzzle has just grown. How did that happen so quickly?

Where have all the bricks gone?

The garage is empty. All the bricks are out.
And just look at the progress!

Wednesday, May 6 - Peltier's were called to add an additional 3" to the metal overhang over the east door. The previous ledge was not wide enough for the bricks.

Monday, May 4, 2009 - Mortar was flying so fast today Mara could hardly keep up! Bob Schrieber, who has worked with both Dave and Brian on other jobs, was recruited to help. Bob was thrilled to be able to lay a couple of bricks. Bob says he "... may not be as fast as I was in my younger days," but he still enjoys working with the guys and seeing the finished product. Onlookers were wondering how he could still move after being down on his knees for so long.

Sampler Festival Weekend A Success!

Friday, May 1 everyone worked "full throttle" to complete the windmill and move the scaffold. By Saturday morning an unobstructed view of the buildings, plane and windmill was revealed. Thousands of visitors drove by during the Festival to get a view of the work in progress. On Saturday and Sunday the Museum was open extra hours to allow visitors to stop by and meet Mara and the guys.