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Logan converts cardboard to art
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ROBERT K. YOSAY | THE VINDICATOR: Logan, a client at Gateways to Better Living Inc., has a special knack for building models out of cardboard. He is displaying his H-60 Jayhawk helicopter replica.
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
When it comes to used cardboard, most people will opt to break it down, not build it up.
An exception, though, is 22-year-old Logan.
“I built it and painted it all,” said Logan, a client of Gateways to Better Living Inc., referring to a replica of an Army Blackhawk helicopter he painted and assembled with common cardboard on a table with six other such works he made.
Gateways prohibits the use of clients’ last names.
An estimated 140 clients with varying challenges live in 21 of the agency’s Mahoning County group homes, noted Paul Stitt, Gateways’ vocational director. Many, including Logan, learn and perform a variety of skills and jobs to make them more marketable, Stitt explained.
Several of Logan’s cardboard projects were on display recently at Gateway’s, 945 W. Rayen Ave., where he attends a day program during the week, including Life Flight and Jayhawk Coast Guard helicopters, a Navy boat, an M1 Army tank and a bus, on which he painted the agency’s logo.
“It takes a lot of time to do each one of these,” Logan said proudly.
In addition to taking at least a few weeks for each piece, by his estimation, such work takes quite a bit of talent, not to mention a mechanical acumen coupled with the right tools. Those include a coping saw with a thin blade, glue and staple guns, a small saw with a special drill bit, Scotch tape, safety glasses, scissors and paint.
Logan, who has sold one of his pieces and has a work station at Gateways, said his interest developed after using cardboard to design Halloween decorations. The inspiration for some ideas such as the Coast Guard helicopter came from watching special programs on The Weather Channel related to that military branch, Logan explained.
A fair assessment of his works would be incomplete without mentioning Logan’s eye for detail, which includes having cut and folded cardboard strips to make the helicopters’ propellers. Sparing no material, Logan equipped one of the planes with an intricate infrared camera.
“He likes to get each detail precise,” said Tom Smalls, a vocational specialist who works with Logan. “He’s one of the top clients here.”
Smalls added that he hopes Logan will make a yellow bus to go on a wall at the facility.
When he’s not converting cardboard to art, Logan probably is working with several fellow clients sorting hangers or assembling boxes to hold automobile parts. He also enjoys tending to a large garden featuring rows of tall corn in Gateway’s backyard.
Logan may have a flair for doing more than most people with ordinary cardboard, but certain aspects of his personality and ethos shine through just as clearly for Stitt.
“He’s an honest young man who likes to work with his hands, and he tends to be interested in different types of models,” Stitt added. “He’s a hard worker down here.”
Also assisting Logan with his work and activities is Bob Eister, Gateways’ production manager.