HPMKT Commissions Sculpture by Local Artist for Award

November 15, 2023  by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry   

The award sculpture, designed by High Point craftsman Justin Stabb  of Stabb Designs, represents the world’s largest tradeshow in sculptural form and is infused with the imaginative creativity often found in the High Point community. It will be presented to 98  Asian Bistro, at 1800 N Main Street in High Point on Dec. 8.

“As another way to give back to the community we wanted to engage a local artist and fabricator  to create our recognition award,” stated Tammy Nagem, president/CEO of High Point Market  Authority.

“After much consideration we selected Justin Stabb to envision and execute the  design. Justin has had his hand in some of the most creative elements in our city’s downtown transformation.”

“His work is seen in places like Congdon Yards, the Rockers’ craft brew space, High  Pints, and Paddled South Brewing Co among other places. He fabricates much of his custom work  from metal, wood, resin, glass. He is also a custom lighting designer.” 

“I love a challenge in design, material selection and construction,” commented Stabb. “I was excited when the High Point Market Authority commissioned us to create a sculpture for the new Community Impact Award.

The sculpture we created is a deconstructed and morphed version of HPMKT, an acronym for the High Point Market. I wanted something that represented the High Point Market but was unexpected and not instantly recognizable.

I positioned and stacked the letters to create a forward moving stance which I felt represents the direction that the Market is headed and creates another point of pride for our city.”

“We created a 3D model in SolidWorks and then carved out the letters with our waterjet which uses 60,000 psi water and sand to cut the material cleanly and accurately,” Stabb continued. “The parts were then welded into place based off our initial 3D model. Once fabricated we had the sculpture media blasted and powder coated.”

“The fabrication took about a week to complete. The HPMKT sculpture, cut from a 1.5” thick steel plate, is 30” in diameter, 50” tall and weighs about 300 lbs.,” Stabb concluded. “I look forward to seeing it installed in its final home soon.”

Stabb, a mechanical engineering technology and manufacturing engineering graduate from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY, founded Stabb Designs in 2017.

His website states, “We believe that no problem exists in a vacuum. Every challenge we face is  a unique mix of personal, material, and external demands. To answer these challenges, we require solutions that bridge these disparate gaps without creating new issues to address. To that end, we design, fabricate, and install uniquely beautiful solutions to meet our client’s  needs. We integrate various materials, design for manufacturing, advanced fabrication techniques, and turnkey installation to generate an elegant answer to our client's problems, needs, or wants.

In bringing together an agile thought process with incredible craftsmanship,  we will provide an end product that will be appreciated and enjoyed for years to come.”