Golden Gazette • August 2021 • Page 5
Buddy Holly Hall houses unique art installation By Allison Monacelli The Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences is the newest addition to the Lubbock skyline. Lubbock Entertainment Performing Arts Association, LEPAA, was challenged with raising the money, overseeing the construction of the site and all of its operations. Michelle Stephens, LEPAA executive director, said Lubbock has needed a space like this for years, and a performance arts venue was high on the list for the town.
“To have something like this for our community, something you would expect to see in a huge city or in another country, to have that here is just, it’s indescribable,” Stephens said. The creativity within the walls of the Buddy Holly Hall never stops. Comedy, ballet, off-Broadway shows, and even original works of art are displayed. Since all of the costs were donated by individuals, companies or foundations, LEPAA wanted an interac-
tive way to involve donors into the building, Stephens said. “We were talking about donors, and how do we recognize donors, and one of the architects said ‘Man, it sure would be cool to do something better than a buya-brick program,’” Stephens said. Brad Oldham, a sculptor from the Fort Worth area, engineered a 30-foot by 120foot visual comprising 9,000 guitar picks, according to the LEPAA website. This fine-art installation is on the south wall of Buddy Holly Hall. The picks are in 11 sizes, six of which are available for the public to purchase and customize. When it comes to the picks, there are nine levels that were originally available for purchase. As of right now, there are only 3 levels left to choose from, and they are the larger picks. “We do offer payment plans on those,” Stephens said. “We sell them online but if someone is like OK, ‘I want a big pick,’ and doesn’t have the money, they can just put it on a payment plan, and just pay a little bit every month.” Stephens said 832 picks are sold, and 872 picks are still available. “We’re still raising money,” Stephens said. “We still need contributions from people who want to support this awesome thing that’s happening in our community.”
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