Unalam Impacts Art World

Martin Puryear | New sculpture for the 2019 U.S. Pavilion, in-process 2019 | Photo credit: Yasunori Matsui

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Zoë O. van der Meulen, Executive Vice President
Unalam
Phone: 607-369-8508
Fax: 607-369-3608
Email: zvandermeulen@unalam.com
Website: www.unalam.com

LOCAL MANUFACTURER IMPACTS ART WORLD

Unadilla, NY (May 9, 2019) Unalam, a local timber products manufacturer with offices in Unadilla, NY and a plant in Sidney, NY, is proud to announce its involvement a new major artwork being exhibited on the international stage.   

“We jumped at the chance to work, again, with artist Martin Puryear and Brooke Kamin Rapaport of Madison Square Park Conservancy who is the commissioner of the U.S. Pavilion at La Biennale Arte in Venice, Italy,” says Unalam CEO Craig Van Cott. “We were introduced to Martin and Brooke when we made glulam and plywood parts for Martin’s sculpture Big Bling in 2016. When the call came in to be a part of Martin’s sculpture team for this exhibition, we didn’t hesitate to say yes. The hardest part of all of this has been keeping the entire project a secret.”

Secrecy is a necessity for La Biennale Arte, what some call the Olympics of the art world. Martin Puryear was chosen to represent the United States at this year’s event and his exhibition, Martin Puryear: Liberty/Libertà, which will be unveiled to the public on May 11, 2019. 

Swallowed Sun (Monstrance and Volute) features a 22-foot tall by 44-foot wide plywood and glulam timber ‘screen’ that is less than a foot deep. Unalam manufactured the glulam support for the screen and enlisted another local company, R.J. Millworkers in Oneonta, NY, to precisely cut each plywood piece. The screen was then assembled under the direction of the artist in Unalam’s Sidney, NY manufacturing plant. 

Leif Van Cott, Unalam’s Vice President of Operations, was charged with managing the project in the plant while keeping it under wraps. “We had about a month between the time that we received the final drawings and when the freight company came to crate the artwork and load it in a shipping container bound for Venice,” says Leif. He continued, “after we made the deadline, we had a couple of months of waiting while the container sailed to Venice. There, it met up with the rest of the sculpture, a large steel spiral, and was installed outside in the U.S. Pavilion’s forecourt.”

Craig, Leif, and a team of Unalam employees repeated that voyage to attend the opening of the U.S. Pavilion at La Biennale Arte. Says Craig, “seeing the finished artwork together, here in Venice, makes me so proud of Unalam and our skilled team. We are used to manufacturing structural wood for buildings; artwork presents us with another challenge entirely. I can’t thank Martin and Brooke enough for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring our talents to this amazing project.”  

Martin Puryear: Liberty/Libertà will be on view in the U.S. Pavilion until November 24, 2019.

About Unalam – In 1892, the Van Cott family began selling lumber in Unadilla, NY and in 1906 made the first Unadilla silo, beginning a product line that would serve farmers until the 1980s. The company incorporated as the Unadilla Silo Company, Inc. in 1909.

To further its commitment to farmers, the Unadilla Silo Company experimented with glue laminated (glulam) barn rafters in 1928. By 1963, this business had picked up steam and the Unalam division expanded into a new facility in nearby Sidney, NY where glulam production continues today. 

For more than a century, Unalam has built its reputation on a constant commitment to quality and an eye on the future of building. Today’s leaders continue to embody the spirit of tradition meeting innovation.

For more information about Unalam’s products and services call 607-369-9341, visit us at www.unalam.com, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/unalam or on Facebook at facebook.com/glulam.

Martin Puryear | Swallowed Sun (Monstrance and Volute), 2019 | Photo credit: Joshua White - JWPictures.com