Learning Curve 2010

Kingsport Center for Higher Education, Kingsport, TN

Dimensions: 11’ x 25’ x 36’

Materials: Powder-coated steel, polymer, Tennessee flat stone, local river rock, concrete

Budget: $75,000

Fabricator: Appalachian Ironworks, Limestone Masonry, Curtis Cooper

Learning Curve honors the past of this small Appalachian town as one of the country’s leading producers of brick and aggregate as well as the world headquarters of Eastman Chemical. The canopy is a map of the 1906 “City Beautiful” town plan and was fabricated by a local sculptor, John Robinson at Appalachian Ironworks. The inset material is “Tritan”, a newly-invented monomer donated by Eastman Chemical. The recycled brick is from a demolished paper plant, another former industry once important to the town. A local concrete worker and mason did the stonework.