American Welding Society Presents New Project: Arc 2 Art

The American Welding Society has introduced a new project highlighting welding as a creative profession titled, “Arc 2 Art.” The series celebrates women in welding, following two female welding and metal fabricating artists, “Barbie the Welder” and Stephanie Hoffman, as they create a metal sculpture featuring Lady liberty herself, the Statue of Liberty, complete with welding torch, helmet and code book. While they will be collaborating on one single piece of welded artwork, each artist will fabricate components of the sculpture in her own workshop. The two will come together at the end, combining their efforts to create the finished sculpture.

Arc 2 Art will kick-off August 18 via the AWS Instagram page at 2 PM EST, where Barbie and Stephanie will discuss the project, reveal an illustration of the sculpture and answer questions from viewers.

Each artist will keep a video diary of their process and progress, with subsequent episodes alternating between the two artists as they weld and fabricate a section of the showpiece, then bringing them together to join their sections and create the final sculpture.

“We're using this platform to capture the attention and imaginations of our younger generations,” said Monica Pfarr of the AWS Foundation, “so they learn that welding careers can also be a form of creative and artistic expression, and just as lucrative as other professions.”

The last episode will be broadcast via Facebook Live, with Barbie and Stephanie recapping their projects, discussing challenges they encountered and taking questions from viewers.

Barbie the Welder’s love for welding has inspired and taught thousands of people to weld art. In addition to creating commissioned artwork, welding sculptures live for audiences at shows and events, and producing videos for her YouTube channel, Barbie the Welder has written six books. She has also created her first product line – Metal Art Welding Kits– fun and easy welding projects perfect for introducing someone new to welding or learning to make metal art at home. 

When Stephanie Hoffman witnessed welding for the first time at age 11, it was love at first sight. She started welding her freshman year and has been in the industry ever since. Throughout her education and into her career, Stephanie has battled the gender bias that welding should be left for the guys. “Everything I did was under a microscope, pushing me to get better. I knew I could never make it 'just okay' at any single welding process — I had to be the best.” 

For more information contact:

The American Welding Society (AWS)

www.aws.org

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