Lilly Dunn, a William Blount High School graduate, knows a thing or two about welding. In fact, she just won first in the nation for welding sculpture at SkillsUSA, a competition designed for Career and Technical Education.
Her sculpture, a highly detailed scene of an underwater shipwreck, took 150 hours to complete. The whimsical work of art depicts a sunken ship, destined to spend eternity on the ocean floor, featuring sharks, turtles, stingrays and even an interactive crab that, when pushed in, causes eels to dart out from the bottom of the ship.
“This was her imagination, her creativity, her talent,” said WBHS Welding Instructor Bruce Suddarth.
Process
Dunn began working on the sculpture in Oct. of 2023 after she placed second in the state competition for her deer bust made of bolts and screws.
Dunn said she was inspired by the first-place winner’s attention to detail in her sculpture and knew she would have to up her game in the next competition.
Her first vision for her winning sculpture was a large shark, but under the guidance of Suddarth, decided to trade the shark for a sunken ship, cut in half so that she could place details inside the ship as well as around it.
Sitting next to Dunn during the interview, Suddarth said he was still discovering new details, like a small starfish in the corner of the sculpture’s base.
“She went above and beyond,” he said.
Dunn said a lot of trial and error went into making the sculpture. Working with sheet metal, it could be hard to get the curves just right or create a set of shark teeth to give her animals that lifelike quality.
Her ship, she said, took two tries to make.
Competition
Once the sculpture was complete, she took it to the state competition in Chattanooga, where she won 1st place. However, where she really showed off her welding skills, said Suddarth, was the evening before the competition.
A stingray had fallen off the sculpture and Suddarth immediately started trying to find a welder to purchase so that Dunn could fix it but found that all the stores were closed. He turned to Google, where he found a mobile welding service, and decided to give them a call.
Suddarth explained the situation to the employee who came down to the hotel and showed Dunn the type of welder he had. Dunn went to work in the hotel parking lot and welded the stingray back onto the sculpture on the tailgate of the employee’s truck.
After placing first in the state, it was on to nationals for Dunn.
Dunn said that nationals wasn’t just about showing off her sculpture. She went through an interview, had to show her cutting and welding skills, and even presented a portfolio that gave a detailed account of how she made her sculpture.
After that, Dunn said, it was a waiting game.
“I was worried because I really honestly, in my heart, knew there were some other really good ones,” she said.
When they announced the winners, Dunn sat in an auditorium with all the other SkillsUSA participants, a ball of nervous energy. When the announcer started calling first, second and third place in each category, they didn’t initially specify who won what. They just listed the states. So when Dunn saw Tennessee listed under welding sculpture, she knew she had placed, but didn’t know where.
“I was even happy to be up there,” Dunn recalled.
Dunn said she couldn’t hear the announcers, so she only knew she had won first when she saw her cohorts step into the third and second-place steps of the podium.
“It was just unbelievable,” said Dunn, “It’s just crazy to know that something that I’ve made has gone that far.”
CTE Class
Dunn said that having the opportunity to take CTE classes during her time at WBHS helped her figure out her career path in life.
She came to a CTE night at the school one evening after work and decided to give welding class a try. From there, she was hooked.
“It’s very soothing,” said Dunn.
She said welding allows her to take her imaginings and make them a reality through her sculptures.
Dunn, who was eager to learn, is a rare student, Suddarth said.
“I can teach somebody how to weld. I can’t teach somebody to be passionate,” he explained.
Next steps
That passion is carrying Dunn into the next steps in her career as a welder. She has been working at Axis Fabrication as part of her work-based learning program with WBHS and in the fall, will attend TCAT to study pipefitting and welding.
Dunn said that while at TCAT, she plans to make more sculptures on the side. It seems as though she will have no problem selling. Dunn said she has already had offers on the two sculptures she made while at WBHS and even while speaking with The Daily Times, was approached by the principal of WBHS, Rob Clark.
“I can’t believe the details. I mean, it is truly, truly a work of art,” Clark said.
As Suddarth will welcome new welders into his classroom, he says that having Dunn as his student has helped him improve as a teacher.
“She’s helped me make my program better,” he said.
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