Stephan Wanger '94
演示的投资组合
Stephan Wanger recycles thousands of Mardi Gras beads into gigantic, detailed mosaics—and teaches others to do the same through his nonprofit, 珠城.
Stephan Wanger ' 94 believes he works with the happiest medium, the New Orleans bon temps incarnate: Mardi Gras beads. “How can you hold Mardi Gras beads in your hands and not feel happy?” asks Wanger, who creates large-scale mosaics with recycled beads of every color. His inspiration comes from colorful, 弹性新奥尔良, but his story begins with the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina.
When Wanger graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Marketing and 沟通s, he found a successful career in event marketing and web development. Then in 2005, Hurricane Katrina wrecked its way across the Gulf Coast, flooding most of New Orleans. 随着城市开始重建, Wanger was reminded of how his home country, 德国, was rebuilt after World War II with the help of the United States.
“你.S. 对我这么好. I wanted to give back, to help out. 我说，‘给我一把锤子. 我想要建设，’”王格说. So he left his home and job in Chicago to move to New Orleans and assist in the rebuilding.
Eventually he worked his way up to assistant carpenter. The atmosphere of the city inspired him to create something of his own, leading him to transform eco-friendly, local and accessible media—such as screws, 钉子和瓶盖——变成艺术品.
诺拉的韧性, 2010 (99 inches by 77 inches) was unveiled on August 25, 2010, to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. This detailed portrait of a woman’s face—based on the August 2010 生活 magazine cover—pays homage to the history and future of New Orleans.
一天晚上, 手里拿着一串珠子, Wanger realized they could be the medium he was looking for—full of local spirit and readily available. “They hang from the trees [in New Orleans] and become bleached to silvery gray,” he says about the ever-present strands of Mardi Gras beads, 哪些累加在10里,000 tons of Mardi Gras trash that ends up in landfills every year. That night, he found more beads and glued them to an old plastic planter.
With many more nights of practice, 旺格完善了他的技术, upgrading from planters to sheets of plywood from his carpentry. He developed a style of photorealistic shading and colorful abstract backgrounds to perfectly portray iconic Louisiana subjects. The city began commissioning and displaying Wanger’s New Orleans-themed artwork, which drew the attention of local schools that hoped the colorful, resourceful art might inspire students’ creativity.
Wanger began volunteering to teach students mosaic-making, as well as the importance of recycling. He started his own nonprofit organization, 珠城, in 2012. 与头镇, Wanger has worked alongside students across North America, 从新奥尔良到哈利法克斯, 新斯科舍, 加拿大, Gary, 印第安纳州. His nonprofit instilled a sense of local pride in students and community members that burst forth in the beaded mosaic form.
In December 2013, hundreds of student and community volunteers from Louisiana completed work on Une Rue Principale en Louisiane, a 48 feet by 8 feet mosaic that secured a Guinness World Records title for World’s Largest Beaded Mosaic. 今天回到芝加哥, Wanger continues his artmaking pursuits in the name of sustainability and community. But he always remembers the city that gave him his start. “This is my passion,” Wanger says. “New Orleans has given me a great gift.”
斯莱德尔沼泽, 2013 (51 inches by 99 inches)—When beginning a mosaic, Wanger paints the board to guide his selection of bead color and quantity. He spray-paints the beads specific colors and glues each one on individually.
Home on St. 查尔斯大街, 2012 (63 inches by 51 inches)—If you look closely in the lower level main window of the house, you can see a miniature version of Wanger’s mosaic hanging on the wall.
有轨电车, 2012 (51 inches by 99 inches)—Wanger customized this commission to suit the purchasing couple’s interests.
就这样吧, 2015 (6 feet by 8 feet)—Wanger increased the size of the mosaic so that he could render each of the Jackson 5’s unique faces and personalities in clear detail.
