Certification puts Artstone on the U's new field - 2008-06-02 New Ulm company making 87 cast stone signs — one for each county in Minnesota — for U of M stadium By KURT NESBITT Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM — Artstone's literature sometimes mentions that is it a state-certified Women Business Enterprise. Sometimes that certification, which is meant to help women- and minority-owned businesses, pays off. Case in point: Artstone is producing 87 cast stone signs for the new stadium. Each one has the name of a Minnesota county engraved on it. The New Ulm-based company is also making some very visible and decorative touches to the new stadium, which was designed to replicate stadiums of the past. Artstone is building 39 small arches 18 feet tall, three medium arches that are 40 feet tall and two large arches that are 50 feet tall. It has also produced 119 base panels in addition to the county signs, which will adorn the outside edge of the elliptical-shaped stadium. 'We've done a lot of work for the U but nothing of this size," said Artstone president Jennifer Thompson. She said Artstone's certification as a Women's Business Enterprise helped the company land the contract because the stadium was required to meet certain state civil rights criteria. Because Artstone is more than 60 percent owned by women, the state certified it as a WBE — a Women Business Enterprise — which makes Artstone eligible for certain government contracts. Artstone first received the designation in 2004. Thompson said it is actually hard for her to say whether or not the certification has helped business at Artstone, although the WBE is mentioned in some of the marketing Artstone does and even though it does open some doors for the company. 'It's hard to say because we don't always know why we're chosen," Thompson said. Artstone records indicate that it has made products for the University of Minnesota for almost 50 years, but TCF Bank Stadium is probably the largest and most visible U of M project that Artstone has been involved in. The new stadium is also one of Artstone's most complicated projects. Since the stadium is elliptical, each piece Artstone is building has to be slightly radiused or curved so it will fit together correctly. Making the pieces to the correct dimension has Artstone's architectural drafters figuring out dimensions and drawing each piece. Carpenters are making the molds for the pieces. Metal fabricators are making cages out of rebar to fit in the odd-shaped molds. Plant Manager Allan Schumacher said Artstone has been working on its parts of the stadium for four months 'It's a fun project that's been getting a lot of attention," he said. Artstone is working with Gage Brothers of Sioux Falls. While Gage is handling the brick work, Artstone got the complex pieces. Schumacher said the stadium will probably be done next summer. The university wants to hold its inaugural game there in September 2009. Stone signs for every MN county created for TCF Stadium - 2008-05-28 by Brian Johnson Staff Writer A small New Ulm company has 87 big reasons to be excited about the TCF Stadium project. The firm, American Artstone, is producing 87 decorative, cast stone signs for the new University of Minnesota football stadium. Each sign is engraved with the name of a Minnesota county, part of the university's effort to show that the stadium is a 'statewide facility." The signs are the handiwork of a 95-year-old firm known for its building façade work at places like the University of St. Thomas, the Winona County Courthouse, the Ramsey County Government Center, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. American Artstone has done some 'small stadium stuff, but not on this scale," said Mark Rolle, the firm's manager of sales and estimating. 'This is exciting for us," he said. 'And we have some Golden Gophers within our firm." The TCF Stadium effort is a big undertaking. Each 16' by 5'4" sign weighs 6,500 pounds and is precisely crafted to fit with different radius points on the stadium, a process that requires 'pretty intricate drawings," Rolle noted. Advertisement The New Ulm firm is working with masonry contractor Northland Concrete of Burnsville and Sioux Falls-based Gage Brothers. Northland is setting up the base panels for the signs, and Gage Brothers is installing thin-set bricks for the non-decorative portion of the façade. American Artstone's work represents roughly $1.6 million of the stadium's $11.8 million precast concrete contract. Rolle said his company was a logical choice for the work, despite its lack of major stadium experience. 'We are kind of known for our intricate, highly refined work," Rolle said. 'So the stadium was a perfect fit for what we do. And we have a good working relationship with [general contractor] Mortenson and have worked with [architect] HOK in the past." American Artstone is a member of the Cast Stone Institute, which defines cast stone as 'a masonry product that provides ornamental or functional features to buildings and other structures." Ingredients in cast stone include 'fine and coarse aggregates, Portland cement, mineral oxide color pigments, chemical admixtures and water," according to the association. American Artstone is producing the signs at its manufacturing plant in New Ulm, where the company has been in business for nearly 95 years. It was founded in 1914 in a Fairfax, Minn., garage and moved to New Ulm two years later, according to the firm's website. The company's 35-person payroll includes third-generation artisans and 'true German craftsmen," Rolle said. Workers at the plant can tackle 'almost any shape required of the project," the website boasts, including the 'once near impossible compound radius," which includes curves in both elevation and plane. 'Our market niche has been cruel and unusual," Rolle said. 'It's something we do. For most firms, it would be very specialized, but that is what our market niche is." Besides producing the cast stone signs, American Artstone is providing 38 10-foot diameter arches, three 28-foot diameter archways and two 42-foot diameter arches for TCF Stadium, which is scheduled to open in September 2009. Brian Swanson, the university's TCF Stadium project coordinator, said it was the university's idea to engrave the county names into the stadium. It happened that the number of colonnade bays in the design matched the number of counties and the idea 'grew out of that," he said. Crews will install signs representing Pope, Ramsey, Red Lake, Redwood, and Renville counties this week, and will add up to 10 signs each month through March 2009. 'They are putting them up faster than we expected," Swanson said. 'They are big, but when you think about it, everything on this project is big — the thousands and thousands of tons of structural steel, the giant pieces of precast concrete. 'They are just another big piece of a big project." The Pride of Artstone - 2007-12-16 By MICHAEL GASSETT — Journal Sports Writer NEW ULM — American Artstone Company of New Ulm has won several state and national awards over the years. They are a well known and respected company all across the Midwest and the country. But Artstone is mostly known for decorative facade on buildings and restoration projects. They have never tackled a project like this. Over the course of the last 18 months, Artstone has been working on a project for a hospital in Carroll, Iowa. The work consisted of a new addition to the hospital, a parking ramp and what has turned into a sense of pride for Artstone — a statue of St. Anthony for the side of the hospital building. The statue was the biggest artistic project Artstone has ever attempted and they are ecstatic with the way it turned out. 'This is something that is not typical for someone in our industry," Mark Rolle, Artstone's manager of sales and estimating said. 'We looked at this as an opportunity to showcase what the abilities were of our plant personnel and the artisans that work here." Building the statue of St. Anthony was no small undertaking. St. Anthony is 31-feet-10-inches tall and 10-feet-6-inches wide. It took 48,000 pounds of blended Cast Stone concrete, 2,600 pounds of modeling clay and because of its size, the statue was built in four sections weighing a minimum of 11,000 pounds each. The sections had to be shipped to Iowa two at a time because they all couldn't fit on a single truck. The last shipment left late last week. The project lasted 18 months from the time the bid was submitted to the time it left the factory floor in New Ulm. The project wouldn't have gotten very far with out the help of artist Jason Jaspersen, an art teacher at Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School. Artstone and Jaspersen have collaborated before. He was the artist on the Gertie Goose sculpture that sits in Riverside Park in Goosetown in New Ulm and he worked on the St. James Library project which Artstone recently completed. Jaspersen spent 292 hours working on the project and because of the size of each piece, Artstone rented a heated work space for him to work, in order to not take space away from their already crowded production floor. 'We had to be able to build it in one spot, be able to move the individual pieces back to our shop so we could start the mold fabrication process," Rolle said. 'Because our workspace is so valuable, we couldn't bring the whole thing in here at one time. So we brought in a section at a time and got that done, before bringing in another one." The whole idea for the sculpture came from an original statue of St. Anthony that was at the hospital when it was built several years ago. The hospital wanted the new statue to look as if it were carved out of the side of the building. 'The technology has come around and has brought a feasibility back into ornamentation artistry in the industry," Rolle said. 'So versus having a stone mason on the side of the building for a year and a half carving a statue, we were able to do it in seven months for 1/50 of the cost." The first challenge in creating the statue was all that Artstone had to work with were a few pictures of the original at the Carroll Hospital. 'We usually have drawings and specifications to work from," plant manager Al Schumacher said. 'But this was a just picture of a statue they had there. 'It's amazing that we were able to take something of that scale on. It was a huge undertaking and it turned out great." Jaspersen started with a 1/16-scale model that Artstone showed the hospital architect and hospital administrator. Upon approval he made a 1/4-scale model. When that was approved the project was ready to begin. First the statue hit the drafting room, there they took the pictures, scanned them in and brought them to full scale with a computer animated drafting program to get the correct specifications. Then the drafters printed out a full-scale template which was a profile of St. Anthony. After that, the template went to the shop floor where a wood positive of the outside perimeter of St. Anthony was made. They glued foam to the plywood and took a chainsaw and started cutting out the shape. Then Jaspersen refined the rough cut styrofoam by applying modeling clay to make the positive of the statue, and the next step was to spray a urethane rubber over the entire structure. 'That is a thin coating of rubber that is put over the entire surface," Schumacher said. 'It holds all the detail. Whatever is on the positive is going to come through on the rubber." After the urethane is applied, they fill the backside of the rubber mold with concrete. 'We rolled the concrete and rubber mold over and then we removed all of the clay and foam so all we have is the negative of St. Anthony," Schumacher said. 'Then we poured concrete in it to make the positive. After curing, we pulled the stone out and peeled the rubber mold off of it and we have the sculpture." When it was all done, they lined up the four pieces of the sculpture on the production room floor just to see how big it actually was going to be. 'This was a unique opportunity we had here," Rolle said. 'To work on this project and from experience we had on other projects it was a matter of using the same technology and blowing up the scale. The biggest intimidation was the size of the project. The statue started three stories up and the bottom of his feet are roughly 30 feet in the air." 'We always laughed because he looked so big in the shop," Schumacher added. 'Then when he gets put on the side of the building, he sure doesn't look as big." The final part of the project was getting St. Anthony to Carroll and having it fastened to the wall of the building. 'We do the engineering for what's required to adhere the pieces to the building," Rolle said. 'We make sure everything we design can be installed and shipped where it needs to go." One of the most difficult parts was customizing the split-face stone to go around St. Anthony's feet. 'We custom formed the stone so it exactly fit around his feet," Rolle said. Originally, the hospital administrator wanted to keep the project under wraps because the wing of the hospital isn't scheduled to open until January 2009. So Artstone was trying to find a way to hide it. If they covered it with plastic, how would they keep it from staining the statue. But Rolle said the hospital got so excited about seeing the progress of St. Anthony they wanted to show it off. 'In the town of Carroll, the hospital is the most significant industry," Rolle said. 'As you come into town you can see the hospital on the hillside. St. Anthony, you will be able to see him as you are driving into town. It will be kind of like their Hermann, and they are excited about it." Now St. Anthony will be the pride of Carroll and the pride of Artstone too. 'I believe the St. Anthony project represents the finest and best in the quality workmanship that American Artstone Company has to offer," Artstone president and CEO, Jennifer Thompson said. 'This project, while large in scale, reflects the artisanship and talent of our people and what they do day in and day out on any number of marvelous projects." St. James Library Sculptures - 2007-11-30 Library features locally-made sculptures Jasperson, Artstone team up By FRITZ BUSCH Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM ‹ Four locally-made sculptures will be unveiled at 1 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 1 at the new Watonwon County Library in St. James. After a long search and many suggestions, Minnesota Valley Lutheran art instructor and sculptor Jason Jasperson was chosen to do the work, according to the Friends of the St. James Library. Jasperson created four sculptures that were made at Artstone Company in New Ulm. They were installed at the library earlier this week. The pieces feature people with New Ulm roots. A life size work depicts a grandfather and grandson, made from photos of retired artist Bill Tacke, formerly of New Ulm ‹ who now lives in the Seattle area ‹ and Jasperson¹s son Teddy. His daughter Maida is also depicted on one of the sculptures. Another piece depicting a young lady reading is a rendition of 2007 MVL graduate Maggie Gleason. Jasperson recently completed a 30-foot high sculpture of St. Anthony that will be installed at St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll, Iowa. HIs work has appeared at The Carnegie Art Center and Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, The Albert Lea Art Center and at the Kiesling House, New Ulm. The Martin Luther College seminary lobby features a painting by Jasperson. It depicts Martin Luther, Martin Chemnitz, and CFW Walther. He has taught art at MVL since 2001. Construction of two new art classrooms recently tripled the size of the MVL art department. ³I¹m thankful and pleased with all the art support we have at MVL,² Jasperson explained. He earned jan Associate of Arts degree from Bethany Lutheran College in 1997 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2000. Jasperson studied under sculptor Paul Granlund at Gustavus Adolphus College for a semester. Artstone receives two awards - 2006-10-23 Artstone received two awards recently. The Cast Stone Institute Awarded Artstone with the 2006 Manufacturing Excellence Award and the 2006 Design Excellence Award for Commercial Building. These awards were received for the work completed on Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. Artstone receives national attention. - 2006-05-26 Artstone recently won a national 2006 AIA Honor Award for Bigelow Chapel 2005 Year of Awards at Artstone - 2006-01-10 This is the year of awards for American Artstone and we are bursting with pride! Check out our awards in the News 2005 Awards - 2006-01-10 This year at the annual Cast Stone Institute conference there were 25 design entries (a record amount). Out of these there were a total of 6 awards given. Artstone come home with 3. Two of the awards were presented for Design Excellence Award for Commercial projects. The two projects were the Winona Courthouse and the Bigelow Chapel. The Winona Courthouse also received the Minnesota Restoration award earlier this year. On the Bigelow Chapel in New Brighton, Artstone simulated Italian travertine marble for the exterior and interior walls. The third award was for Manufacturing Excellence Award. This was for the Winona Courthouse as well. On the Winona project Artstone had the task of replicating gargoyles from the 1800's. Over our history Artstone has gained the reputation of taking on projects others shy away from. Our internal joke is that we do the curial and unusual. Happy New Year - 2006-01-01 2005 MN AIA Convention - 2005-11-15 Come check out booth #200 to learn more about American Artstone November 15th, 16th and 17th at the 2005 MN AIA Convention Artstone Wins National Award - 2005-06-26 New Ulm, American Artstone has been awarded the 2005 PCI (Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute) Design Award for Best Public/Institutional Building. This honor was given to American Artstone for the work that was completed on the Bigelow Chapel at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, New Brighton, MN. From approximately 110 entries, 17 winners were chosen form across North America. Nine of these awards were for bridges and pier construction. This work was completed under the direction of the Architect/Engineering firm, Hammel Green and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA) of Minneapolis, MN and General Contractor, M.A. Mortenson of Golden Valley, MN. Approximately 4,200 Cast Stone pieces measuring no more than 18" x 18" were made to replicated Italian Travertine. A great deal of credit goes to the hardworking and talented artisans at Artstone. "The Cast Stone perfectly replicated the travertine. Its beauty, texture, depth and variation complements the surrounding brick and precast buildings." said Joan Soranno, head designer for the project. "I am exceedingly proud of our craftsmen at Artstone who continue to manufacture the highest quality, customized Precast possible," said Artstone President Nancy Fogelberg. "They are the reason we have been around for over 90 years." New Lustrous Concrete - 2004-11-04 Artstone has recently joined forces with Artist, Tom Schrunk to create LUSTROUS CONCRETE TM given the "Most Innovative New Product" award at the 2004 Minnesota AIA Convention. You can view several photos of these beautiful and unique vertical surfaces by going to the Gallery and looking at the Cruel and Unusual Artstone, state certification as Women - Owned Business - 2004-09-08 NEW ULM, MN (September 2004) - The Minnesota Small Business Procurement Program has certified American Artstone Corporation of New Ulm, MN, as a Women-Owned Business. This listing offers Artstone preferences and subcontract opportunities for products and services approved by the Materials Management Division of the Minnesota Department of Administration. Artstone turns 90 - 2004-09-01 NEW ULM ‹ Artstone, one of the nation¹s leaders in cast stone and architectural pre-cast concrete since 1914, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. Founded and still based in New Ulm, Artstone manufactures unique, customized designed for commercial construction, building renovation and high-end residential buildings. The firm specializes in decorative columns or arches, bell towers, and even gargoyles on buildings throughout the Midwest. A new 43,000 square foot manufacturing facility with state-of-the-art equipment, boosted production capabilities to $4.5 million. But it¹s the old-fashioned craftsmanship that makes the company¹s products special Historic university, municipal and church buildings carved by hand have been restored by the firm. Textures include brownstone, limestone and sandstone. One such project is the Winona County Courthouse, recognized this week by the Minnesota Preservation Alliance with one of its Minnesota Preservation Awards. Artstone re-created carved stonework that had deteriorated over the years, including several gargoyles. ³Most of these wonderful buildings contain features that were carved by hand and are just not built this way anymore,² said Artstone President Nancy Fogelberg. ³Either that trade, along with its craftsmen, has died, or the work if done today is simply cost-prohibitive.² Artstone¹s artisans can make molds of existing stonework and use it as a pattern to re-create the look and color of the original stonework. Artstone, which employs 50, including artisans, left its mark on the new Science Museum of Minnesota, Como Park Conservatory, the Ramsey County Government Center, St. Thomas University¹s new science buildings in St. Paul and law school in Minneapolis, WCCO-TV¹s headquarters and Renaissance Square in Minneapolis. Another notable accomplishment last year was the Duluth lynching Memorial and a clock tower in Duluth¹s Canal Park District. Artstone is involved with marble panels and will donate a fireplace for the New Ulm Medical Center expansion. ³We hear over and over again from architects and contractors that we deliver what we promise,² says Fogelberg. ³We pay attention to the unique design of the architect and work closely with the contractor to deliver the custom product on time to achieve the desired outcome to satisfy the owner.² ³I am exceedingly proud of our craftsmen at Artstone who continue to manufacture the highest quality, customized precast possible,² says Fogelberg. ³They are the reason we have been around for 90 years.² Celebrating 90 Years - 2004-07-15 This year marks Artstone's 90th year of continuous manufacturing of Cast Stone and Architectural Precast. Historical designation sought for Artstone houses - 2004-05-19 By KURT NESBITT Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM - Citing a 'unique collection' of concrete and precast stone houses, the New Ulm Heritage Preservation Commission is seeking to establish a special designation for Artstone buildings in the city. Owners of buildings constructed by that company will be eligible to have their home designated as a historic property if the city agrees to allow the designation. The commission unveiled its plans after a property-by-property presentation on Artstone buildings at Turner Hall last week. The commission has already established designations for houses from other eras in New Ulm. Artstone houses and buildings are eligible for designations because they have value as a part of the growth of the city, state and country. They also have distinguishing characteristics and represent a particular kind of architecture, according to a recent commission study. Artstone makes stone from cement aggregates, which is mixed with a cement base and poured into wooden molds. New Ulm has 23 American Artstone properties, many of them houses that were built in between 1920 and 1938. Historical preservation consultant Dan Hoisington said New Ulm has more Artstone buildings than most other cities in the state. "They represent a period when concrete buildings were a fad in the 1920s," he said. "A lot of these are really well-preserved." Hoisington recently completed a study of those properties. The study was sponsored by the Heritage Preservation Commission using a state grant. Anne Makepeace, president of the commission, said a historical designation would be voluntary if and when one is established. Started in 1910 as the Fairfax Cement Works, the Saffert-Guggisberg Cement Company moved to New Ulm in 1916 and changed its name to American Artstone in 1932. Artstone's first New Ulm building was built in 1917. Most of the its homes were constructed between 1924 and 1929. Later projects included the gas station that now houses Weeds and Reeds, the trim for the auditorium at New Ulm Middle School, the old Public Library and Museum, parts of the Lamplighter Bar and Grill building, parts of the Valley Bank & Trust Company and parts of the Biebl Ranweiler building.