Donald Chapelle has over 24 years of experience with large scale outdoor events, 10 to 40 ton sculptures, including planning, staging, crowd control, lighting and most importantly, delivering on your vision.
2011 will celebrate Donald's 22nd year participating in Boston's First Night New Years celebration of community. Here are just a few of his large First Night Installations.
Orca:
Size: 130 blocks, 18 tons, 17 feet tall, 32 feet wide.
Climate: 3 Days very cold weather with the last two days sunny and in the 50’s. Due to the mass and thickness of Orca the pieces came out rather well despite the warm weather.
Michelangelo Sculpting David:
Return to Michelangelo’s studio in Florence in 1504, where he completed his most famous work, the Statue of David.
Size: 90 Blocks, 12 tons, 17 feet tall, 20 feet wide.
Climate: : Completed all large instillations in 4 days of perfectly cold weather. Poor PM pictures are a result of the lighting company “honeycombing the sculpture of David at dusk making the sculpture opaque
Pipeline:
Visit Pipeline, Oahu’s most famous surfing beach on the North Shore. View the heavy surf from the safety of the beach while the ballet of board and human gracefully coexist with windward waves in eternal motion.
Size: 170 Blocks, 23 tons, 13 feet high, 32 feet wide.
Climate: first two days highs of 55-65 and sun and rain, blizzard on last day.
"Mangrove" includes rich green native flora, a wading flock of pink flamingos, and towering palms. Friendly alligators and an indigenous panther sip from emerald water while interested snowy white egrets survey the extraordinary magnificence.
Size: 110 blocks of Ice, 15 tons, 15 feet high, 32 feet wide
Climate: 1 hour of freezing temperatures in 5 days of carving, rain 3 days in the high 40’s and low 50’s temps in the PM 34-44F.
"Oystermen", a celebration of our coastal shell fishing heritage on scenic Cape Cod. New England fishermen haul the daily catch; rough seas hamper the harvest; a hurried boat captain holds to the oars. Nauset lighthouse beacons in the distance while gulls scream overhead for quick meal - perhaps a few seals appear interested in the incredibly delicious bivalves - the setting sun reveals an amber and violet skyline, reminding the fisherman its time to return home.
Size: 175 blocks of ice, 24 tons of ice, 22 feet tall, 27 feet deep, 42 feet wide
Climate: Relative cold in PM 3 days, 2 days in the 40's
A lush view of tropical fish and magnificent coral reef life. Sculpture includes towering seaweed, colorful tropical fish, Neptune riding dolphins and undersea coral flora.
Size: 160 Blocks of ice, 22 tons, 18' tall, 40' wide, 42' long
Climate: One day cold weather, 1 day heavy rains in the mid 50's, last three days highs in the 40's.
"Americas Native People follow the roaming buffalo" a dazzling view of native life on the western plains. Sculpture includes a life-size tee-pee, grazing buffalo, Native American People and eager wolves howling at the moon.
Size: 165 Blocks of ice, 22 tons, 18' tall, 60' long, 40' wide
Climate: Last two days warm and sunny mid 40's, first three days high 20's at night
A simmering panoramic view of life on the Serengeti. Encounter a blistering sunset, giant mafuti trees and the inhabitants of an emerald colored pool with lazy lions, elegant giraffes and graceful gazelles.
Size: 185 blocks, 25 tons, Giraffes 21 feet tall, 58 feet wide
Climate: 3 days very warm weather in the mid to upper 50's 2 days cold weather
Escape to an animated wintry countryside of St. Petersburg on a stalwart horse drawn sleigh to an arctic land of snow and ice.
Size: 185 Blocks, 25 tons 28 feet high, 46 feet wide
Climate: 2 day drizzle including First Night, 4 days cold weather
A scene inspired by the final "Circle of Life" of the migrating King Salmon. Bathing and fishing in the cold Alaskan glacial waters is a family of brown bears enjoying a feast of spawning salmon.
Size: 150 Blocks, 20 tons; 18 feet high, 52 feet wide
Climate: Generally cold days in the low 30's
