polycarbonate tree for this years candy window

I haven’t posted anything on the Candy Window project all year. It is about time I did. So first thing to do is catch you up on what has happened so far. In January we picked the theme “Hearts All a Glow”. Then not much happened for several months. I thought about window ideas but didn’t settle on anything because I didn’t know where my window was going to be and some ideas just aren’t very conducive to some spaces. Things have been up in the air on funding. Last year the developer of the shopping area gave us some money but the property was sold to a new developer and we still don’t know if they are going to come through with money. The back up plan is the South Jordan Arts Council.

I had hoped to work with the Bingham High School Art Club (they helped a little last year). But the adviser for the club has too much going on to do the club again and no other teachers came forward to help. Then in the spring there were some rumblings about having the South Jordan Youth Council help on the project. About that same time I found out that my window was going to go between the main front doors of South Jordan City Hall. I went to see the space and it was about 4 feet by 8 feet, so generously sized. My big concern was getting power to the space. It is in the entry way between the sets of doors. Not an area that normal has electrical outlets.

About that time I got the news that the Youth Council wanted to help. So I got together with the kids and their leaders to brainstorm ideas. I didn’t want to pick an idea and then tell them what we were doing. I wanted them to feel like they were part of the project from the beginning. There are two things I’d like to accomplish by using a youth group. First is just hands to help get it done. There is lots of gluing to be done and my hands are starting to show the wear and tear of the repetitive motion. The second and in the long run the more important, teach them how to do a candy window and hopefully over the years a few of them will catch the vision and want to do windows of their own. I’d like to move into a more advisory role with the windows but to do that we need more artists.

On the day of my meeting with the Youth Council, in July, the power for the window got worked out. The city is installing outlets in the back wall above the window. I asked them to put outlets in the two side areas too. It would be super fun to have a three-part window the could be walked between. I can image it would be like walking through candyland.

half-scale model of the Ferris wheel

After some brainstorming with the Youth Council we came up with a really fun idea. A big project for sure that I wouldn’t tackle without their help and couldn’t pull off without Bill’s help too. We are building a Ferris wheel with more than a dozen different Christmas characters on and around the wheel. The plan is to have lights on it and to have it rotate. I’ve been meeting with the Youth Council a couple of times a week to work on getting things going. They start school this week so hopefully they will still have time to come regularly to help. Their leaders are great and easy to work with.

section of snow with dehydrated mini marshmallows

Last week we got miniature dried marshmallow glued down on half of the snow for the base. We have 5 polycarbonate Christmas trees that will have light inside them. All the plastic is cut out but only one is assembled and ready for gummy bears. Bill has the steel to build the Ferris wheel but has only done a little bit of the cutting. There are lots of technical details to work out on the Ferris wheel. We have the plywood for the seats on the Ferris wheel and the pattern printed and ready to go for cutting them out. The original goal was to have the structure done by the end of August. That wasn’t realistic but I hope we can have most of it done by the time the new puppy comes on September 11th.

It is kind of funny because Bill and I were busy working on the very first candy window we ever did when the World Trade Center collapsed all those years ago. Interesting the connections we make to different events in our lives.