Janis Fontaine‘Forged Freedom’ will be installed on the Lake Worth Beach campus.
A team of Palm Beach State College welding students has crafted 325 pounds of raw steel into a larger-than-life piece of patriotic art as part of a statewide competition celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
The sculpture called “Forged Freedom” depicts an American bald eagle about to take flight. It took 11 students more than 350 hours over three weeks to complete.
The silver bird of prey is about 3 feet tall, perched on a steel beam. The majestic creature’s wingspan stretches 6 feet. Its tripod base is adorned with vines and roses.
Instructor Todd Rowley taught the students the cutting and welding techniques they used to create the piece.
Rowley found a design for the eagle, but it wasn’t the right size, so Rowley asked his colleagues in the drafting department to draw new blueprints.
The students did 100% of the work fabricating the piece, Rowley said. “I wasn’t allowed to help them at all. I could guide them, but I couldn’t touch anything.”
Connor Sabatello, 22, of Jupiter, was part of the team. “I hand-crafted the roses and the vines that wrapped around the legs, and I welded about half of the feathers onto each wing,” he said.
‘Built out of steel and sweat’
Symbolism is embedded in the piece. “The eagle is just common sense,” Sabatello said. “That’s the main bird of the whole country. The steel works because America was built out of steel and sweat. The roses make sense because the country was built off sacrifice and blood.”
The tripod represents the three branches of government and the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The sculpture is designed to rest on uneven ground, symbolizing the nation’s endurance.
Aside from Sabatello, students who worked on the project were Gabriel Abadia, Elijah Dimanche, Jaeden Garcia, Timothy George, Kebert Gomez, Michael Misurelli, Volodymyr Sologub, Dejanae Thomas, D’liyah Parker and Janai Wellington.
Rowley made sure every student took part.
Rowley has worked as a general contractor and in marine construction, on Wall Street and in real estate. He said he has always taken comfort in knowing he had welding skills as a fallback.
In January, he accepted a position as a welding technology instructor at the college.
“This is a retirement job for me,” he said, “and it’s been great. These students came from not knowing anything to being really good welders. There’s a whole lot of people out there who aren’t good in school, but they’re great with their hands and there’s a lot of jobs available if you’re trained for them. Jobs that AI isn’t going to take.”
Looking forward to going to work
Sabatello has an associate’s degree from PBSC, and he wanted to add a trade to his resume, so he enrolled in the welding program. He works weekends at a grocery store.
“This is the first time I’ve really looked forward to getting up in the morning to go to work,” he said.
He aspires to be an aerospace welder, but the chance to work on an art project revealed new talents. In South Florida, a lot of ironwork and welding jobs are ornamental.
Program Director Carmen Modock said the response to the competition from the public has been “beyond our expectations,” including calls from local media. Winners will be announced before the Fourth of July.
As for the students, “It really caught their passion,” she said. “If there is another one, we would definitely want to be a part of that.”
The sculpture will be installed in the new roundabout in the Lake Worth Beach campus’ northwest corner off of the Lake Worth Road entrance.
It will stand outside the Education and Training Center buildings. as a symbol for the workers being trained there.
Rowley hopes the sculpture will inspire people.
When he spoke at the unveiling in April, he said: “This is not a resting bird. It is in the act of claiming the sky. The eagle doesn’t look back; it faces forward, as this nation has always faced forward – through war, through hardship, through two and a half centuries of becoming.”
