Charleston Clay Center debuts new climbable sculpture

  • 2016-11-14
The Clay Center in Charleston will hold an opening day celebration in just a few days.

A highlight of the opening day will be the new Avampato Discovery Museum, which will feature a multistory sculpture made of wood and metal. Named Ashton's Climbing Sculpture, the new, 70-foot-tall display will be something people can look and touch. It is designed to allow people to climb up it.

The sculpture will be able to support more than 60 children and nearly as many adults. For safety reasons, the sculpture is encased in a wire mesh. It is also structurally overbuilt, allowing it to support a considerable amount of weight.

Ashton's Climbing Sculpture cost more than $1m and was designed by artist Spencer Luckey, who has designed a number of similar sculptures for museums and institutions around the world. Museums that introduce new, interactive sculptures can use Direct Mail printing to tell their subscriber and membership base about the project.

The new sculpture is named for the grandson of Fred Clark, who is a member of the board of the Clay Center and who is from Waverly, near South Charleston. Clark and other members of his family helped to pay for the sculpture, after the unexpected death of Stephen "Ashton" Clark at the age of three in 2008.

Although the new climbing sculpture does not open to the public until this Saturday, November 19, some Grade 3 students are going to give it a test run in the middle of the week.

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