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BSU welding instructor to be honored for art

A Boise State University welding instructor will be honored nationally for the work he did alongside some Boise State University students and at-risk youth from Canyon County.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/News/story.asp?ID=56751

Juan Martinez has been nominated as the American Welding Society Educator of the Year and has been invited — along with the students — to attend the American Welding Society national convention in April in Chicago, where the winner will be announced.

“This is an honor and a great opportunity for us to showcase the diversity of our students and to help break down the stigmas that are sometimes attached to Idaho,” Martinez said.

Martinez and the students also have been asked to create a piece of metal art for the national convention and present it to Jessie James, welding icon and star of the cable television hit “Monster Garage,” or to the city of Chicago where it will be displayed as public art.

James has inspired a new generation of metal fabricators, Martinez said, and is highly respected for his craftsmanship and innovation.

Martinez worked with local school districts and the Boys & Girls Club of Nampa to identify students to help with the Building Bridges Community Art Project. The culmination was a metal archway sculpture that was installed at Indian Creek in Pioneer Park in Caldwell last summer.

The project was funded by the Idaho Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for Arts and managed by Caldwell Fine Arts and the Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho.

Martinez, a welding artist, uses steel to re-create Aztec and Mayan symbols that are part of his heritage.

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