FDTC Welding Rodeo crowns winners during FMU Arts International Festival
The familiar sounds of clanking metal returned to Francis Marion University’s Arts International Festival Saturday, April 14 during Florence-Darlington Technical College’s ninth annual Welding Sculpture Rodeo.
This year’s contest featured two new winners in the professional and student division. Florence’s SteelFab of South Carolina won for the pros, while the team from FDTC won the amateur rodeo.
For five years, the daylong festival has hosted FDTC’s welding sculpture competition. Both the professional and student teams had nine hours to create their work of art. This year’s theme was the Olympics.
Competing in this year’s rodeo were teams from Dillon County Applied Technology Center, Duke Energy, FDTC, Frazier Industrial of Darlington County, GE Healthcare, Richland County’s Heyward Career and Technology Center, SteelFab, Darlington County Institute of Technology and Williamsburg Technical College.
The contest, which was held behind the FMU Smith University Center, started at 7:30 a.m. with teams running in a “scrap dive.” The competitors picked out scrap metal to mold into their Olympic sculptures.
A three-person panel of judges picked the best pieces and the artwork was auctioned afterwards to benefit scholarships for students at Tech. SteelFab’s creation was sold for a bid of $500.
For more information about the ninth annual FDTC Welding Sculpture Competition, contact Lauren Dorton with the Foundation office via email at lauren.dorton@fdtc.edu or 661-8002.