In 2009, All Phases Welding, was approached with an opportunity to partner with an art class at Electra Lee Middle School to create a permanent art project for their school. Brad donated his time for an hour and a half, every week, for 5 weeks, to go into the school and make presentations on the basic aspects used in their field and start working hand in hand with the students on fabricating this project of the their design.
This project was modeled after the artwork of Keith Haring and the students had to work together on drawing out their individual designs & placements because it was cut from one sheet of steel, meaning all the figures, had to connect in multiple points. Once, the design was done, Brad, along with his employees, again donated their time and began the in shop process. The designs were cut out with a hand held plasma cutter, a supporting frame was fabricated, as well as the fastening legs. It was then sent to powder coating and upon completion, was transported to the school and installed directly inside the main entrance.
This was an extremely fulfilling project and opened the door for similar opportunities for APW to work with the school system. This project also led to a huge surprise as All Phases Welding & Fab., Inc. was nominated for awards in 4 categories at the 19th Annual Business/Education Partnership Awards and were the recipients of the "Good Things Come In Small Packages" Award.
In 2011, All Phases Welding was approached with another great opportunity to work with a local high school class. This time it was with some of the Lakewood Ranch tech students who wanted to design, build, and install a permanent steel mustang sculpture in the courtyard of the school.
Again, Brad donated his time over the course of a few weeks, and spent time instructing high school students on how to use the equipment to build their sculpture. These students were actually able to get in on the actual cutting and welding processes as well, which was really neat for them and APW. At a certain point, the sculpture was taken to All Phases' shop and prepared for installation and then powder coated.
The school had a grand reveal, complete with students, teachers, and news crews on site. It was a very exciting day and the sculpture turned out amazing! We're very fortunate to have had the chance to work with those students and thankful for the partnership we've developed with the school. We were recently on the LWRHS recently for another job and we're happy to say that 8 years later, it still looks great!
THIS memorial build was the honor of a lifetime and a true labor of love. All Phases Welding was involved in this project from the beginning, partnering with Southern Manatee Fire Rescue to procure a beam from the World Trade Center, Tower Two with plans to incorporate the steel into a 9/11 Memorial. Brad had the incredible opportunity to travel to New York, along with crew members from SMFR to pick up the beam and we're escorted by multiple fire departments, law enforcement, and motorcyclists as they transported the beam back to Bradenton, FL.
Upon arrival of the beam, APW set to work on building a base to hold the weight of the entire memorial, fabricated the Pentagon replica and held a special viewing for the actual beam cutting process. The beam was cut into two pieces, meant to represent the Twin Towers and then attached to the base. They were then clear coated by Custom USA, in order to preserve the material just as it came to us. Once the memorial was ready, it was taken and put in place by crane at the SMFR Administration building in Bradenton, where the base was sprayed by Line-X of Sarasota and the engraved granite piece was put in place by Planet Stone, all these great companies having donated their time and materials, along with All Phases Welding & Fab., Inc.
On September 3, 2011, the dedication ceremony took place and it was truly a memorable day. This project will forever stand out as a highlight in our career and we will always be grateful for having the chance to work with SMFR and everyone else involved, on such a meaningful piece of art.
NEVER FORGET!