  Fred Sprague and Earlene Spaulding make a display of the new topo casting. |
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By Helen Brown A topographical model of Kansas, molded in a mixture of plaster and cement has been given to the Baxter Springs Heritage Center for display. Allan McCollum, a New York City artist, was at the local museum Wednesday to present the large art object locally. McCollum was commissioned by the Grand Arts Gallery in Kansas City to produce an art exhibition of three-dimensional topographical models of Kansas and Missouri. Each is cast from a mold in ceramic and finished with bright colored glazes. As a second part of the project McCollum produced several additional models in the cement and plaster mixture. These would be donated to small historical societies and museums. | |
"It can be very expensive to create a topographical model, but once a rubber mold is made it can be relatively economicaI to produce them in quantity," said McCollum. "I'm trying to 'piggyback' a practical, educational project on top of an art gallery project." The very heavy model is unpainted allowing each area to develop the finished model to their own needs. "All the models are being produced from molds taken from two original topographical models that were created using a computer-controlled routing machine," said McCollum. "The machine was programmed with geographic information systems data supplied by the US Government. "The exhibition of the ceramic models will be on view from November 7 through December 20, at Grand Arts, 1819 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri." |