Late last year I was invited to install the Ghost School at the new Kohler Experience Center, Los Angeles. Kohler Company provided an incredible spot to install the sculpture that I had made at the Kohler Factory, in Wisconsin, in 2015. For the next year it will be prominently featured in the window of their new flagship showroom in West Hollywood, California on Beverly Bvld.
In November, I met my friend Ken Seger in LA, to begin the installation. The Experience Center was still very much under construction.
We first installed the wooden framework and cables the school of fish was to hang from.
We returned a few weeks later to begin the installation of the school itself. With hundreds of strings and fish and beads we recreated the sculpture fish by fish. After three long days of installing the sculpture was complete.
Kohler Company was kind enough to fly my wife in for the opening, and the Grand opening was a wonderful night to share with her. A dream come true. It was great to meet David Kohler again, and I am grateful for his kind words and actions toward me. It was David and Laura Kohler who embraced my work and made it a permanent part of the Kohler Company’s art collection.
Kohler has some amazing people on their team. Tandra Sbrocco, Troy Opgenorth, Christopher Parrish, Angel Felix, and all of my friends in the factory whose names are etched into many of the fish that make up the sculpture. They bring back memories of times in Wisconsin with all those great people who helped make this piece of artwork happen. The Arts/Industry program is an incredible residency program for artists to work in the Kohler Factory. Thank you to Ruth Kohler and the kind people at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center for allowing me to take part in it.
So, if you happen to be in West Hollywood in 2018 please stop by and see The Ghost School! And learn More about KEC LAX here
You can learn more about the Ghost School here
David Franklin