Lightning bolt sculpture unveiled in BGMU-SKyCTC collab
Published 6:00 am Thursday, June 5, 2025
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The first of three sculptures funded by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, a TVA Community Care Fund and private donations and created by students and faculty from SKYCTC’s Welding, Machining, Collision Repair and Art programs is unveiled on the corner of 8th and Center Street on Tuesday afternoon, June 3, 2025. The three public sculptures, each symbolizing the core BGMU services of electricity, water and fiber, will be permanently installed around BGMU’s general downtown office campus.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
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Former Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon and Bowling Green Municipal Utilities General Manager Mark Iverson shake hands before the start of a ceremony to unveil the first of three sculptures funded by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, a TVA Community Care Fund and private donations and created by students and faculty from SKYCTC’s Welding, Machining, Collision Repair and Art programs at the corner of 8th and Center Street on Tuesday afternoon, June 3, 2025. The three public sculptures, each symbolizing the core BGMU services of electricity, water and fiber, will be permanently installed around BGMU’s general downtown office campus.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
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Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce Chairman of the Board Andy Barker speaks during a ceremony to unveil the first of three sculptures funded by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, a TVA Community Care Fund and private donations and created by students and faculty from SKYCTC’s Welding, Machining, Collision Repair and Art programs at the corner of 8th and Center Street on Tuesday afternoon, June 3, 2025. The three public sculptures, each symbolizing the core BGMU services of electricity, water and fiber, will be permanently installed around BGMU’s general downtown office campus.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
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TVA Senior Director of Customer Relations Ernie Peterson speaks during a ceremony to unveil the first of three sculptures funded by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, a TVA Community Care Fund and private donations and created by students and faculty from SKYCTC’s Welding, Machining, Collision Repair and Art programs at the corner of 8th and Center Street on Tuesday afternoon, June 3, 2025. The three public sculptures, each symbolizing the core BGMU services of electricity, water and fiber, will be permanently installed around BGMU’s general downtown office campus.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
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Crowd members chuckle as the wind unveils the first of three sculptures funded by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, a TVA Community Care Fund and private donations and created by students and faculty from SKYCTC’s Welding, Machining, Collision Repair and Art programs before the start of an unveiling ceremony at the corner of 8th and Center Street on Tuesday afternoon, June 3, 2025. The three public sculptures, each symbolizing the core BGMU services of electricity, water and fiber, will be permanently installed around BGMU’s general downtown office campus.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
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Crowd members chuckle as the wind unveils the first of three sculptures funded by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, a TVA Community Care Fund and private donations and created by students and faculty from SKYCTC’s Welding, Machining, Collision Repair and Art programs before the start of an unveiling ceremony at the corner of 8th and Center Street on Tuesday afternoon, June 3, 2025. The three public sculptures, each symbolizing the core BGMU services of electricity, water and fiber, will be permanently installed around BGMU’s general downtown office campus.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
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SKYCTC Interim President Brooke Justice speaks during a ceremony to unveil the first of three sculptures funded by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, a TVA Community Care Fund and private donations and created by students and faculty from SKYCTC’s Welding, Machining, Collision Repair and Art programs at the corner of 8th and Center Street on Tuesday afternoon, June 3, 2025. The three public sculptures, each symbolizing the core BGMU services of electricity, water and fiber, will be permanently installed around BGMU’s general downtown office campus.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
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Bowling Green Municipal Utilities General Manager Mark Iverson speaks during a ceremony to unveil the first of three sculptures funded by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, a TVA Community Care Fund and private donations and created by students and faculty from SKYCTC’s Welding, Machining, Collision Repair and Art programs at the corner of 8th and Center Street on Tuesday afternoon, June 3, 2025. The three public sculptures, each symbolizing the core BGMU services of electricity, water and fiber, will be permanently installed around BGMU’s general downtown office campus.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ
david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com
Several minutes before schedule, a gust blew the blanket off Wednesday’s big reveal at East Eighth Avenue and Center Street.
And there, by the perimeter of Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, it stood: a sculpture of a red lightning, 10 feet tall and 2 feet thick, almost 6 feet at its widest – roughly 1,500 pounds.
The approximately $100,000 project was designed by faculty and largely pulled together by students at Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College. The project, a partnership between SKyCTC and BGMU, was funded in thirds by BGMU, a Tennessee Valley Authority grant and private donations.
“They were motivated to contribute meaningful and lasting artwork to the Bowling Green community,” SKyCTC interim President Brooke Justice said.
It’s the first of three statues to be unveiled around the BGMU perimeter and represent the agency’s core services: the lightning bolt for electricity, a water drop for water and fiber optic strand for fiber.
SKyCTC’s collision repair program, the art department, the welding department and the machine tool program coordinated on the sculpture, said SKyCTC welding technology faculty member Steve Hatcher, who served as the project manager.
Everything about the piece, made from 10-gauge mild steel, was difficult to fabricate, Hatcher said. It took students six months outside of class requirements – think time spent before or after classes – to get it done.
“Every piece has to be welded together, and welding something like that together that’s that thin without causing a lot of warpage and distortion takes a lot of skill and effort and patience,” he said.
“What you see there in front of you requires a tremendous amount of fabrication welding skill by not only the faculty, but students involved in the project as well.”
Mark Iverson, General Manager at BGMU, added in a statement, “SKYCTC and its Industrial, Arts and Design programs were a perfect match to bring the public sculpture concept to reality.”
