Mel Chin, a renowned artist and Black Mountain College Legacy Fellow at UNC Asheville, first introduced WAKE, specifically the Jenny Lind figurehead project, in August 2017. From this, an interdisciplinary group of UNC Asheville engineering students, art students, and faculty came together to produce Mel's vision. The challenge? To design and recreate the Jenny Lind figurehead featured on the clipper ship, "Nightingale". Jenny Lind will find her first home in Times Square after being designed and constructed at UNC Asheville's STEAM Studio. Standing 16 feet tall and 21 feet long, she leans at a 49 degree angle and watches the activity above her. The figurehead features lifelike head and breathing movements that capture the emotion of someone who is saddened or distressed. These movements are meant to instill uneasiness in the viewer, prompting them to question what she might be viewing. This talk will describe the design and construction challenges faced in bring Jenny to life.
