Using materials donated by Pointe Hardware and Lumber, Grosse Pointe Park artists Shawn Stockwell and Jon Bell created a symbolic sunflower sculpture for the exterior of an “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” house in Armada Township.

Letting the
sunflower shine in

GP artists contribute
symbolic metal sunflower to ‘Extreme Makeover’ home

By K. Michelle Moran
C & G Staff Writer
   
GROSSE POINTE — Artist Jon Bell of Grosse Pointe Park has worked on lots of different creative projects, but making a metal sunflower was a first.
   
Bell, who’s president of the Grosse Pointe Artists Association, agreed in August to create the sculpture at the behest of a producer for the television show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The crew was in town to film an episode in Armada Township, which was slated to air at 8 p.m. Oct. 1 on ABC.
   
According to “Extreme Makeover” spokespeople, the recipients are the Gilliam family. Maryann Gilliam, 32, is a homemaker and mother to six children, ranging in age from 8 months to 12 years old. She was widowed when her husband, David, 41 — a firefighter and emergency medical technician — died suddenly on Dec. 24, 2005. Besides the trauma of losing a husband and father, the family learned that their small, two-bedroom, 120-year-old Armada Township house was contaminated with high levels of toxic spores, which threatened the health of the entire family.
   
In just over 50 hours last month, the “Extreme Makeover” designers and an estimated 3,000 tradespersons, subcontractors, workers and volunteers tore down the old house and built a new one for the Gilliam family.
   
Although the sculpture was a small part of the total project — which got help from dozens of Michigan businesses, including American Heartland Homebuilder and Lombardo Homes — it was a crucial piece. The sunflower symbolized David Gilliam, and was “planted” in front of the house in his honor.
   
“They were very excited,” Bell said. “It was exactly what they wanted.”
   
Working with his son-in-law, fellow Grosse Pointe Park artist Shawn Stockwell, Bell created the sculpture with materials donated by Pointe Hardware and Lumber.
   
Bell said producers called the GPAA Art Center in search of a metal sculptor, and when Art Center Director Susan Macdonald contacted Bell about the request, he volunteered for the project,
   
After getting the call on a Thursday, Bell said he and Stockwell picked up the donated materials on Friday.
   
“By 1 p.m. Saturday, it was finished,” Bell said.
   
With only a simple sketch to work from, Bell researched sunflowers in advance of starting to actually create one, and learned that they’re very symmetrical plants. He said the ABC film crew came to his shop and filmed them cutting the leaves out of copper and soldering them. Bell and Stockwell were also filmed delivering the sculpture.
   
“It was just a wonderful creative event that started and finished quickly,” Bell said. “And the film crew was just great. There was nothing but enthusiasm.”