Hearts in Downtown Fullerton
Since 2010, PacMin has produced giant heart sculptures for All the Arts for All the Kids. The hearts are installed throughout downtown Fullerton in early September and remain there through late October. Each one is a celebration of art, creativity and community.
Each year, artists worked individually or in collaboration with one another to create unique designs utilizing a wide variety of materials including mosaics of glass, mirrors and tile.
PacMin designed the tool and manufactured all of the hearts. Working with artist Katherine England, who created the heart shape concept, PacMin engineer Daniel Baca took her hand made prototype and translated it into 3D CAD. Some changes to the design were made on computer before cutting a 12 inch or 30 cm tall model of the heart on one of our CNC machines. After viewing the prototype, small additional subtle changes were made on the computer before a full size, 59″ x 46″ x 19″ inch pattern was machined. The pattern was sanded, primered, then water sanded before being used to create a fiberglas production tool. The final product weighs 55 pounds.
The hearts were designed to accept an internal reinforcement of plywood bulkheads as well as a mounting steel pole that ran the height of the heart. The pole was designed to be placed into a receptacle cemented into the ground at each location. As well the pole mounting system allowed for the hearts to be locked into place with a padlock.
The hearts were delivered at the rate of about five per week. The artists were provided with small stands to hold the hearts while they performed their magic.
The hearts are to create awareness of the importance of art education in schools, particularly Fullerton schools. They are also sold with proceeds going to All the Arts for All the Kids Foundation to fund art and music programs in Fullerton elementary schools.
For more information about the All the Arts Foundation, visit their website.
PacMin contributed over $17,000 in in-kind support to this great program.
