Yarn reaches new artistic heights

The city of St. Louis Park, Minn., commissioned artist Randy Walker to create an outdoor sculpture derived from the city’s historic Peavey Haglin grain elevator, an 1899 experimental circular concrete grain-storage facility. Walker’s installations feature rich networks of string or yarn that use color and space to create depth and movement. Walker’s creation, “Dream Elevator,” consists of seven stainless steel sections mounted on a concrete base to form a 44-foot cylindrical tower, which serves as a framework for more than 10,000 feet of WeatherMax™ yarn twisted into cords of four colors.

Walker chose the Safety Components product for his open air artwork because of its water-repellent, fade-resistant and sag-proof properties. “I sought a yarn that had a combination of color-retention, stability, abrasion resistance and affordability,” says Walker. “I have used solution-dyed acrylic for temporary applications, but needed a more resilient yarn for this project.” Filament yarns such as WeatherMax ensure elasticity, while a HydroMax finish makes the yarn durable and water-repellent. The Dream Elevator, connected to the old grain elevator via a pedestrian greenway, will have to stand up to Minnesota’s challenging weather to develop a history of its own.