City Art Works is now hosting the work of Danna Hassell with her collection titled, “The Music in Art,” with a reception to be held Thursday, January 10.
Hassell’s work includes upcycling tossed and scrap metal into sculpture through welding.
“I take absolute junk and scrap metal and weld them in a way that seems to bring new life to each piece. The fun in this type of work is finding the right piece and when I do it’s like finding gold,” Hassell said.
“The Music in Art” was inspired by The song, “I Hope You Dance.”
“I was listening to my favorite country music star on Facebook and she did her version of a song we’ve all heard before, “I Hope You Dance.” That song set me out on a path to build this show filled with musical instruments. I haven’t worked this hard on my art in a long time and I was overjoyed with the inspiration from that song once again. About eight years ago, that same song was the fire behind a project I did with a friend at First Methodist Church. I also feel that project came from my heart or the music in my heart,” Hassell said.
Hassell’s work includes sculptures of a saxophone, trumpet, and piano keys among many others. They are framed by a backdrop of Mardi Gras paintings by Frances Huff.
“I think it ties together with the musical theme, it’s kind of a Mardi Gras type theme going on. I’d really like to thank her for that. She’s been wonderful about loaning us these,” Hassell said.
Hassell, a native of Minden, became interested in welding as her children grew up and were going in their own directions. She says someone told her she couldn’t weld, which was her inspiration to learn.
“That’s all I needed, was somebody to tell me I couldn’t do something,” Hassell said, “Once I started playing with it, I really fell in love with it.”
One of Hassell’s early works is on display in the front window of City Art Works, she calls it “The Shovel Band.” It is a band made out of shovels, made for yard decor.
“My work has kind of evolved from this to the sculptures you see in here. It’s kind of a growing process. I’ve learned through the years how to make things a little more refined and inside type of art,” Hassell explained.
The pieces on display at the show were all started on August 31 and finished by December 31.
“That’s every spare moment that I had, pushing, trying to get ready for this show,” Hassell said, “This is a big show for me, in the fact that it’s been half the year and I pushed it out,”
City Art Works will hold an artist’s reception Thursday, January 10 from 5-7 pm at 701 Main Street. The exhibit will run through March 16. The event is open to the public.