Richard Prazen (center) demonstrates a technique in his metal sculpting class.
For Bonnie Jo Fisher, grandmother of nineteen, metal sculpting is therapeutic. For Marissa Cox, Spring 2019 Criminal Justice graduate, metal sculpting decorates her home and creates some disposable income. Both Cox and Fisher are longtime students in Richard Prazen’s fine arts metal sculpture course on the Taylorsville Redwood campus. Students often voluntarily repeat the class, which fulfills an SLCC fine arts credit, but a perpetually full waitlist can make doing so competitive.
University of Utah student Keon Aarabi, a 2017 transfer from SLCC, commutes between campuses to keep his spot. “It’s the only class I don’t want to miss,” he says. In fact, Aarabi credits his career choice to multiple semesters spent in Prazen’s class. And he doesn’t plan to weld for his living — not quite, anyway. Aarabi is a pre-dental student at the U.
Through metal sculpting, Aarabi discovered his aptitude for spatial thinking and hands-on work — skills he feels comfortable transferring to dentistry. Soon, Aarabi will move from grinding metal to drilling another element entirely: his patients’ teeth! Continuing to take Prazen’s class will complement Aarabi’s career goals. Like Aarabi and Prazen, professors from regional universities recognize the transferrable skill sets to be accessed through metal sculpting; Utah State, BYU and U of U professors have sent engineering students to Prazen’s class to develop creative problem-solving skills, Prazen says.
Prazen and one of his own prized pieces.
But for Prazen and his students, the class is about art for art’s sake, too: “Rick takes students who don’t consider themselves artists and brings out their creativity” says Aarabi. “After this class, students have an artistic eye. They become curious about the world around them,” says Prazen.
Artists, indeed: a steampunk clocktower, rose in bloom, star-filled fireplace and wizened turtle hold court in Prazen’s shop at the Applied Technology Center. The latter three creations are his students’; the former, Prazen’s own. Prazen himself is a world-renowned artist. Utah locals may know his work from attending Farmington’s Lagoon theme park; his 26’ black widow sculpture has greeted guests outside the Spider coaster since 2003.
Prazen offers advice for a student working on a sculpture.