Stanton mayor talks about Ford’s BlueOval City production delays
Stanton Mayor Allan Sterbinsky discusses why he thinks Ford’s production delays at BlueOval City could be a good thing for the West Tennessee town.
- Ford unveiled a unique steel sculpture designed by University of Memphis students at the entrance of its BlueOval City campus.
- The sculpture project reflects Ford’s commitment to investing in the West Tennessee community and its artistic presence.
- Ford hopes the sculpture will become a popular photo spot for visitors.
A unique steel sculpture recently was unveiled at the entrance to Ford Motor Co.’s massive BlueOval City campus in Stanton.
The eye-catching statue was designed by students from the University of Memphis Department of Art and Design: Jessica Santhongnhoth, Kiya Hsu, Lydia Jackson and Mark Rawlinson.
Dan Brady, director of electric vehicle sales and retail marketing for Ford, said the sculpture project is a microcosm of the Michigan-based automotive giant’s commitment in West Tennessee.
“It’s a symbol of what we’re trying to be and do and invest in the community,” Brady said. “We’re not just coming here to build trucks.”
According to Brady, the genesis of the BlueOval City sculpture started with Ford officials thinking the campus needed some signs. Ford officials emailed Memphis-based Frank Balton Sign Co. requesting a site marker that would provide BlueOval City an identity as bold as its mission to build the next generation of electric vehicles.
“We started talking to community leaders and the one thing that kept coming up for us was just how strong of a presence the artistic community is in West Tennessee, stretching from Jackson down through Memphis,” Brady said. “Some of the most iconic signs, landmarks and sculptures are in this area.”
Ford was involved in conversations with the University of Memphis on different projects, and the company — through a partnership with the university, Frank Balton and Youngblood Studio — developed a class for students to design the sculpture. The class ran from January to May 2023.
Ford recruited students from graphic design and sculpture to be part of the project.
“They (the University of Memphis) used it as a full immersive sculpture class,” Brady said. “The students came here (BlueOval City) several times and met with artists that were on the (Ford) Advisory Council. Our (Ford) designers did sessions with them…. We would walk in and have no idea what concepts they were going to come up and they were different, abstract and then they kind of filtered the process. So, it was really organic from their creativity…. The symbols are truly amazing.”
After the class ended two years ago, Brady said the actual buildout of the sculpture by Youngblood Studio took about six to nine months.
The sculpture features multiple blue canopies, each perforated with a variety of symbols.
Ford noted many of those symbols borrow from the culture and heritage of West Tennessee — the musical symbols of Beale Street, the quilt-like grid of cotton fields, the arch of the Mississippi River bridge and arrows that imitate both water cycles and assembly-line motion.
The BlueOval City sculpture is located near the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center at 2025 Blue Oval City Drive in Stanton.
“I I think the students were inspired to be part of this project,” Brady said. “We were trying to be careful during the process of this not being an advertisement for Ford. We wanted to make sure we thought, plan and integrate our presence, but not overwhelm the creative process. … It was really clever and a lot of fun. Our hope and goal is that people will come and take pictures of it.”
Corey Davis is the Collierville and Germantown reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Corey.Davis@commercialappeal.com or 901-293-1610.
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