AVON 200 SCULPTURE ARTIST RANDALL FLAKE Sculptor, Randy Flake standing next to his finished Avon 200 sculpture.
Writer / Heather Chastain
A man with a passion to mold steel has crafted a permanent legacy for the Town of Avon. Randy Flake, a heavy mechanic, designed and built the 200 sculpture at Town Hall. The sculpture celebrates Avon’s 20-year anniversary and Indiana’s 200-year anniversary. “This is just a hobby I’ve taken to the extreme,” said Flake. “I just have a need to create. I’ve been doing it all my life. I like taking an idea, using my creativity and then
raw materials and making something. I enjoy the challenge of trying to make steel move in a direction it doesn’t care to go.” The Town of Avon commissioned Flake to create the sculpture. “I did a show with Hendricks County Arts Council in 2010 and showed off some of my work, but nothing came of it until they referred Tom Klein (Avon Town Manager) to me about doing this project,” he explained. “The only parameters the town gave me were to make it 10 feet tall and have 42 / AVON MAGAZINE / FEBRUARY 2017 / AvonMagazine.com
the number 200 in it. That’s it. They left the rest up to my creativity.” So he got to work, sketching what he envisioned. Flake doesn’t use a computer or CAD software. “After I submitted my very rough sketch to the town council, they came back with a few tweaks and then basically said, ‘Okay, if you think you can do this, let’s do it.’” It took him about three months to complete the heavy gauge plate sculpture.