From wreckage to wonder

Artist Wendy Klemperer used twisted rebar from the damaged Sanibel Causeway and turned it into a panther sculpture. COURTESY PHOTO

Can art come out of destruction and chaos?

Wilson McCray, gallery director of Sanibel’s BIG Arts, thinks so.

He’d been driving back and forth over the Sanibel Causeway after Hurricane Ian and saw “these balls of torn up or twisted rebar on the side of the road.”

He immediately thought of Wendy Klemperer, who was going to be the artist-in-residence at BIG Arts in March for two weeks.

The two had known each other since the ‘80s, having attended Pratt Institute together in New York City. The Brooklyn, NY-based artist has worked all over the world.

McCray sent her images of the rebar and asked if she could do something with it.

“She said, ‘Yes! This is my stuff.’ She’d been welding with rebar for 20 years. She does sculptures almost exclusively of animals.”

So, McCray paid a visit to Superior Construction’s double-wide trailer by the toll booths on the mainland.

“There was a big round table, and around it, 12 big guys, intimidating,” he remembers. He told them he was the gallery director at BIG Arts.

Wendy Klemperer was the artist-in-residence at BIG Arts on Sanibel in March. Many of her sculptures involve nature and metal. COURTESY PHOTOS

“There’s all this rebar on the Causeway,” he said. “Could I have some to make sculptures with?”

They gave him permission, and he started loading up his truck.

Someone from the crew even came by and helped him.

“They were really friendly,” he says.

McCray took two truckloads of rebar to BIG Arts.

And Klemperer, who had an exhibit in the Durham Family Gallery, came out in March for her two-weeks’ artist-in-residency.

She worked outside, in front of the building.

“She wanted to build three sculptures while here,” McCray says. “They’d all be creatures of Florida; all of her work is inspired towards conservation and preservation.”

Before coming to BIG Arts, she knew the three pieces she wanted to create: a Florida panther, an iguana and an anhinga.

But she ended up spending two weeks creating the Florida panther.

It took Klemperer two weeks to create the Florida panther.

“The material itself is heavy gauge,” explains McCray. “It’s hardened steel, what they make for bridges and industrial projects. It’s especially made to handle heavy loads. Wendy had small welding gear to bend the rebar. So, she couldn’t actually bend it (as she normally would.) All the twists and curves in the salvaged rebar came from the power of the storm.

“But she was determined from the beginning.”

A lot of the pieces were very long, so Klemperer picked the curves she wanted and then cut them to her desired length.

She worked out in front of the building, which had a lot of foot traffic. People could watch her create art and talk with her.

“Some guys in construction came by; they were in awe,” McCray says. “There were so many unexpected, delightful moments throughout the whole thing. She loved working here. She had a great experience here.”

He’s inspired to have more artists in-residence in the future. He says, “To have somebody making art where the public can engage in the process and see what it takes.

“It was fun to watch it come together.”

The end result was “Causeway Panther,” which is eight feet long, approximately four feet tall and two feet wide.

“It’s like an expressionistic drawing,” McCray says. “Her work is like drawing in three dimensions.”

The work originally was perched on top of a wall outside BIG Arts.

At approximately 600 lbs., it’s difficult to move.

“We had to ask the firemen from down the street to come over and help,” McCray says. “They drove over in their firetruck, marched across the patio in their suspenders. Since then, we’ve moved it (again.) It’s now among the trees by a path in front of the building.”

An anonymous donor purchased the piece for BIG Arts.

“It’s a huge success,” he says. “I didn’t know at the time there would be so much meaning in terms of the materials.”

For an island slowly reviving after the destruction of Hurricane Ian in September 2022, Klemperer’s sculpture of a Florida panther made out of salvaged Causeway rebar is a symbol of hope and renewal.

“It’s historical material,” says McCray. “I knew it was a good idea to grab some. I just didn’t know how meaningful the material would be. A year and a half later, people are talking about it. It’s an important time post, a marker.

“It will always remind us; it’s a testimony of resilience and recovery.

“We took materials from horrible destruction and made something beautiful.” ¦

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