Thank You Community Partners
The Giant Water Bottle Sculpture 2023-2024 at Arts Fort Wort
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.
GWBSP WITH COMMUNITY SPONSORS & FWISD
Rainwater Charitable Foundation
BNSF Railways
Employees of Sponsor BNSF volunteer to work on the project
Arts Fort Worth Grants Program
Arts Fort Worth Grants Program
AFW Partner provided space for the project from 08/01/2023 to 03/30/2024.
IM Terrell STEM VPA HS
Young Women's Leadership Academy
Young Women's Leadership Academy
Student Body Assembly: "An Artist Talk " with Willie Cole. He is interviewed by students of the high school.
Young Women's Leadership Academy
Young Women's Leadership Academy
Young Women's Leadership Academy
This is a group photo of the students who listened to a talk by artist Willie Cole and Dr. Barnett regarding Art, STEM Careers in Earth Science, and Scholarships
Young Men's leadership Academy
Young Women's Leadership Academy
Young Men's leadership Academy
In this group photo, students prepped bottles for assembly. They engaged in a lunch-and-learn Q&A with Willie Cole and Dr. Barnett on the environment, sustainability, and college scholarships regarding Plast and STEM careers.
Cristo Rey College prep HS
Bill R. Johnson CTE Center, Crowley ISD
Young Men's leadership Academy
Students show off the water bottle puppets they created for the exhibit.
TCC Collegiate HS
Bill R. Johnson CTE Center, Crowley ISD
Bill R. Johnson CTE Center, Crowley ISD
Dr. Quanda Collins & TCC Collegiate HS students participating in the project
Bill R. Johnson CTE Center, Crowley ISD
Bill R. Johnson CTE Center, Crowley ISD
Bill R. Johnson CTE Center, Crowley ISD
A lecture in the auditorium, "Artist Talk," followed by a Q&A with Willie Cole and Dr. Barnett on Art, STEM careers, and scholarship.
Univ. N. TX Health Science Center
Univ. N. TX Health Science Center
UNT HSC Breakfast in the atrium, an "Artist Talk followed in the lecture hall for students and faculty.
Miss Juneteenth Court 2023-24
Univ. N. TX Health Science Center
A group photo of the Grandmother of Juneteenth Dr. Opal Lee and the Miss Juneteenth pageant Court of 2023-24
Texas Wesleyan University
Texas Wesleyan University
College students and faculty volunteered.
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
