The Giant Water Bottle Sculpture 2024 at Arts Fort Worth
THE GIANT WATER BOTTLE SCULPTURE PROJECT with Artist Willie Cole at the Arts Fort Worth Community Art Center 1300 Gendy St. Fort Worth, Texas
TCEF invited artist Willie Cole to share his compelling concept of "Artcycling." Students from Fort Worth ISD, including I.M. Terrell VPA High School, Young Men's Leadership Academy, Young Women's Leadership Academy, Tarrant County Collegiate High School, and Cristo Rey College Prep High School, were bussed to the facility. The project also included students from Texas Wesleyan University and Texas Christian University.
The Giant Water Bottle Sculpture was completed in 4 Phases:
- Phase 1 - Collect 20,000 16 oz. water bottles. This required coordination among students, parents, teachers, and the community.
- Phase 2: Students, artists, teachers, and partners engaged in the "Artcycling" project sorted and cleaned bottles, removed branding labels, counted bottles, and sorted them into 250-count parcels.
- Phase 3: Working with the artist to build the giant sculpture. Artist Talks by Willie Cole, and teaching students to wire the bottles into specific sheet measures.
- Phase 4 - Over 1,000 hours of hands-on creativity by 300 students, community partners and volunteers, the Giant Water Bottle Sculpture was completed.
THE PROBLEM
According to Container Recycling Institute, 86% of disposable water bottles used in the United States become garbage or litter, adding 38 billion disposable water bottles into U.S. landfills. Bottles wash into the ocean and kill 1.1 million marine creatures each year.
THE GOAL
To create a work of art that can be easily transported from one location to another to maximize exposure and expand the opportunity to educate on the impact of recycling or “Artcycling." To inspire higher learning, raise awareness of scholarship opportunities, and encourage education in STEM and Arts careers.
Thank You Community Partners
TCEF Artist Willie Cole 2023-2024
Willie Cole is a contemporary American sculptor, printer, and perceptual engineer.
His work has been the subject of several one-person museum ...
Park Avenue · Kansas City International Airport · Wildflower ...
Willie Cole ; IMG_6798_2080x1536.jpg ...
The sculpture's placement is sound — Cole is, in many ways ...
Artist Willie Cole recently debuted four monumental chandeliers ...
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TCEF Giant Water Bottle Project at Arlington Museum of Art
Tarrant County Education Foundation
TCEF invited artist Willie Cole to share his compelling "Artcycling" project with the Arlington community. The exhibit opened on August 15, 2024, and will close on October 15, 2024.
Fort Worth students from different neighborhoods and cultures worked as one community to collect 20,000 water bottles to create a 30-ft. sculpture of a giant man. This STEM-focused conservation “Artcycling” project highlights the impact of plastics on our environment and brings awareness to individual responsibility for our planet.
GWBS Exhibit at AMA August 16th - October 15th
TCEF Art of Giving
TCEF invites artist Willie Cole to return to Fort Worth. From February 2026 to May 2026, he will open a new TCEF Giant Water Bottle Sculpture Exhibit at the Fort Worth Science & History Museum. He will engage students in a STEM Art experience to increase awareness of the problem of plastics in our environment.
The Giant Water Bottle Sculpture Project Sponsors
