"Local Happenings"

College Benefits from Agent's Generosity, Her Husband's Skill

By Anne Ross, RE/MAX Times Associate Editor

An 8-foot-tall sculpture donated by Cindy Willard and her husband, Rob, greets everyone visiting the Student Recreation Center at Colorado

School of Mines.

IN PLACE: Rob and Cindy Willard pose in front of the sculpture at the Colorado School of Mines.

Cindy joined RE/MAX Alliance in Golden, Colo., three years ago when she and Rob moved to the city from Denver. Pleased by the move and how well Cindy's business had been going, Cindy approached Rob about donating a piece of art to a local school or university. Rob, who is an artist, would create the piece.

"We decided on the School of Mines because Rob's grandfather was a graduate in the late 1800s," Cindy says. "We approached the dean of students and asked about donating a mural for the new athletic center."

The couple also wanted to become involved with an international educational institution.

"As an avid traveler I've had an interest in international real estate for many years," Cindy says. "I'm about to complete the International Real Estate Specialist designation and look forward to developing agent referrals and new business in this area of real estate and thought this was good connection."

When the Willards toured the new facility, it became clear that a mural wasn't the best fit. Rob thought that a sculpture would work best with the facility's colored brick interior. He wanted something that would stand out because the piece was slated to hang in the main lobby for everyone to see.

"The sculpture is made from expanded polystyrene foam using a technique that I developed through trial and error," Rob says. "It's skim-coated with mat and a pigmented acrylic cement. I wanted it to look like a stone wall inside a mine with the mascot's image carved into it."

TAKING SHAPE: Rob carves the image of Blaster, the school's mascot, into the sculpture.

The 8 1/2-foot by 8 1/2-foot sculpture took about two months to create and evolved along the way, he says. He simplified the image of Blaster the burro, the school's mascot, because he felt his original image was so complex that it would detract from the completed sculpture.

"It has a kind of Disney faux finish," Rob says. "It's more impressionistic."

The Willards wanted to install the piece in the gymnasium because they attend several athletic events every year and thought that would be a good location for it. But the school had another location in mind.

"It was really terrific when they said they wanted it in the main lobby," Rob says. "We felt very honored that they liked it that much to place it where everyone would see it."

During the installation in May, students passed by and looked and made comments on how much they liked it, Cindy says.

"It's been very well received," she says. "It wouldn't have been possible without Rob and without my connection to RE/MAX. It's a great way to give back and promote the RE/MAX brand."

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"Local Happenings"

Cynthia Willard