LULA – Angels described in the Bible serve as messengers, warriors and protectors among others assignments, but in Hall County they also serve as public art.
Recently the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s Vision 2030 Public Art initiative asked Lula resident Jeff Armour if he would use his self-taught welding skills to construct an angel as part of its effort to place local artwork in public locations around Gainesville and Hall County.
Armour agreed to take up the challenge and after three months of work his sculpture was ready: an angel made from things he had around his shop including an old oxygen tank, a pair of garden rakes, tire snow-chains, an old axe head, a broken refrigerator handle and some no-longer-needed shock absorbers.
Tuesday morning Armour’s finished product, a five-foot tall rusted-metal angel, was dedicated near the front door of Hall County Fire Station 6 on Lula Road.
“It’s really just a bunch of rusty steel, it can’t do anything” Armour told fire fighters. “But if it reminds somebody to pray for y’all, that does make a difference.”
“In our five years of existence we have placed 175 pieces of public art, double what we had five years ago,” Vision 2030 Public Art Committee chairman Frank Norton, Jr. told dedication attendees. “Three years ago we were presented an idea…of placing ‘protective angels’…to honor and embrace our community’s protective angels, our public safety, our first responders, our law enforcement and our healthcare workers.”
Armour’s is the fourth angel placed by the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce since the public art initiative started. The other three (crafted by various local artists) are at Hall County Fire Station 16, in front of the Gainesville fire station and at the Gainesville police station.
“Our goal is to place angels at all our public safety facilities in our community,” Norton said, and encouraged other local artists interested in sharing their talents with the community to contact him, or Elizabeth Higgins, through the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s Vision 2030 program. (Click here for contact information.)
Norton explained that the ‘protective angel’ at Station 16 on Shirley Road was funded by residents of nearby Lanier Village Estates and crafted by one of its residents. Norton said sponsorship could be arranged for qualified local artists who wish to participate in the program.
Armour is a Lula native and likes to weld in his spare time. He says he learned to weld so he could repair things around his home, but the utilitarian skill he acquired soon became an artistic form of expression for Armour.
Armour’s wife works with Norton at Norton's realty and insurance office in Gainesville. One day she showed Norton a piece of her husband’s artwork; Norton saw the talent, got an idea and ran with it.
"We want the art to touch our community and our visitors," Norton said, "...and we want it to touch their heart."
Hall County Fire Chief Chris Armstrong said, “On behalf of the 375 firefighters of Hall County, I thank you for your art and dedication.”
