A Highland Village artist is giving one North Texas city something it doesn't have: a public art project.
Daren Fagan is an artist chosen by Greater Lewisville Arts Alliance to create a 20-foot sculpture called "Earth and Beyond." The project is still in the fundraising phase and is expected to be finished and installed by the end of the year.
Fagan specializes in recycled materials – everything from scrap metal dropped off by friends, to unused and unusable materials from the Interstate 35E construction project.
That saying about one man's junk being another man's treasure?
"Yup. I know," Fagan said. "That's it."
But where some might see a pile of stuff, Fagan sees a blank canvas. He says where he gets his inspiration is hard to describe. The vision just comes, eventually.
"I'll get a piece started and just look at it," he said. "And wait for it to talk to me, you know?"
Fagan's gallery is his yard. Pieces line the front and back of his two story home – kinetic steel sculptures, some with faces, which move and sway in the breeze. Each piece, he says, is like family.
"I love to show them," Fagan said. "I do love to sell them, but it's kind of like selling your kids, you know?"
Fagan recently wrapped up an exhibit at Lewisville's MCL Theater, which has served as a temporary home for those pieces which usually grace his property.
"I'm drawn to the abstract stuff," he said. "Things you have to look at for a while. It's kind of like looking at clouds – everybody sees something different."
For all that Lewisville has to offer, one thing has been missing. The city recently approved guidelines for public art, and Fagan's piece will be the first.
"I would call it 'spice of the community' and a representation of the community," he said.
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Fagan has always been interested in sculpting, starting with wire when he was younger. He took up welding eventually. In May, he was laid off from his job of 27 years. Now, he is trying to decide whether to make art a full-time job.
"Lot of hours, of course," he said. "But you're doing what you love."
And doing what he hopes will make others happy.
