Manufacturing as Art

The public is invited to look at manufacturing through an artist’s eye beginning next month.

Industrial Art: Sports Edition, hosted by the Capital City Arts Initiative at The Courthouse Gallery, features design work by five northern Nevada sports equipment designers and manufacturers.

The free exhibit gives an “artful flavor” to sporting products manufactured in our back yard and being used around the world, said Gerd E. Poppinga, vice president of Vineburg Machining, Inc., and a board member of CCAI.

“It’s not art typical of what people understand art to be,” he told the NNBW in a phone interview.

Western Manufacturing Alliance funded the exhibit.

This is the second year of the Industrial Art exhibit. Last year Vineburg Machining, which provides precision manufacturing and machining services for various industries, had items on display. This year, Poppinga curated the exhibit.

The participating manufacturers are:

Aviso Surf, which makes carbon fiber surfboards. Its Solution Marine division makes carbon-fiber foils and other parts for ocean-going sailboats.

Burns Machining specializes in laser cutting and its companion business, Dirt Tricks, specializes in after-market rear sprockets for dirt bikes.

Sports Attack manufactures baseball pitching and football snap/pass/kick training machines.

The Cable Connection manufactures the Ultra-tec line of stainless steel cable railing hardware used in public arenas and buildings, including the San Francisco 49ers’ new Levi Stadium.

UCS Spirit builds track and field equipment, including handmade vaulting poles for athletes from high school to Olympic levels.

The Industrial Art: Sports Edition exhibit includes actual finished products, plus photo prints showing the process of their creation, he explained.

“Each of these companies manufactures products with innovative design that apply to an array of sports equipment. CCAI presents these products as items to be admired in their own right for their design, precision, and beauty,” the organization explained in a press release.

Industrial Art: Sports Edition will be on exhibit in The Carson City Courthouse at 885 E. Musser Street, Carson City from June 9 through Sept. 28. A reception will be held 5-7 p.m. June 9 in the second-floor Courthouse Gallery.

CCAI is funded in part by the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, City of Carson City, Robert Z. Hawkins Foundation, U.S. Bank Foundation, Nevada Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and John and Grace Nauman Foundation.