Explore the Construction of this artwork.
After receiving the architectural plans and specified materials for the development of the site, Calder completed an 8-foot maquette in 1968, and began fabrication at the Biémont foundry in Tours, France later that year. The work was shipped in 27 pieces, packed in wooden crates and assembled on-site over five days. According to project advocate Nancy Mulnix Tweddale, "It was all laid out like a jigsaw puzzle. It was fascinating for people to watch this big object grow before their very eyes. The sparks flew as the welders worked and then the vivid color was painted on. It was like outdoor theater."The $128,000 cost of commissioning, fabricating, shipping, and installing the sculpture (equivalent to $900,000 in 2020) was shared by the NEA, local philanthropic foundations, area businesses, and individual citizens. The wife of former FDIC Chairman L. William Seidman, Sarah "Sally" Seidman, was described as "instrumental" in bringing the artwork to Grand Rapids.There is a 1/23-sized model of La Grande Vitesse displayed and mounted near the base of the stabile itself, created with Calder's approval by the Keeler Brass Co. in 1976. It was donated by Mike and Mary Ann Keeler, original contributors in the acquisition of the huge sculpture, and created by the company Mike Keeler's grandfather and great uncles founded in the late 1800s so that blind visitors to the location could "see" the sculpture in its entirety.
Tours Grand Rapids L. William Seidman red Tours, France