Uncategorized
Stronghold Fabrication
Published
13 years agoon
Bozeman craftsmen Whit Magro, 32, and Pat Wolfe, 30, have a three-part business.
Through their company, Stronghold, they do metal fabrication and fine ornamental
blacksmithing, and also build climbing boulders with steel and concrete. The pair met
in 1997 through rock and ice climbing, and the close partnership they built on some of
the world’s huge mountains serves them well in the shop. “Stronghold is the only piece
of land that hasn’t been strip-malled in the North 19th area,” says Magro, explaining
their business’ clever name.
-E.S.
Whit: I’ve been doing metalwork
since I was a kid. My family’s business
in Cincinnati, Ohio was making
indestructible mailboxes.
Pat: I started by shaping horseshoes,
working with my dad, when I was
about 10. I like forge work because
you get to heat the steel and then
shape it, bend it, and forge it down.
You can do pretty much anything
with it.
Whit: I like designing something,
building it, and creating a finished
product—like doing the climbing
boulders from start to finish,
or coming up with a patent
design for knee braces.
Custom is the most
engaging. It’s fresh, like
[climbing] a new route.
Pat: We built
part of a residential shed roof
remodel this winter. The wood was
reclaimed from railroads, and we
used recycled steel. It was a grate, so it
allows light to come in over a window.
Whit: Steel is really strong. It compliments
wood. You can cut it, weld it,
but you don’t have to be down to
the 32nd. It’s fun to work with.
Around here, a lot of the buildings
have steel exposed in the
architecture. It grows the
ideas when you see a lot
of it.
Pat: Working with steel
can be lots of things.
Fixing trailers is just
cutting and welding –
it’s pretty simple.
Whit: We have
a fetish for plow
discs. We’ve gotten
them at scrap yards and
old farms, but it’s hard to find
the right size for our fire pits, so
we just buy them now. We also
use them as
bases for stools and coat trees.
Pat: I don’t know if I’d consider
what we do necessarily art. It’s
more like functional…
Whit: …functional design.
Pat: Or artistic design. Like a
table or a stool that serves a purpose,
but is esthetic, too. Most of the stuff
we do isn’t just simply there to look at,
like a piece of art. It serves a purpose in
your life, but is also is appealing.
Whit: Our biggest adventure together
was our trip to Patagonia. We
climbed the North Pillar of Fitzroy,
which is a giant rock tower on the
southern tip of South America. 5000
feet of elevation gain, straight vertical
the whole way. It’s big. We spent 48
hours on it. It was Pat and I and Nate
Opp.
Pat: Going through experiences like
that, you understand each other.
Whit: Just after
we opened, Conrad
Anker asked if we
wanted to weld up the
frame for an artificial
climbing boulder that
would be covered
with concrete. The
concrete workers
bowed out, so we took
that on. It was trial
and error. We did a
lot of really intricate
work.
Pat: We made a lot of the features
with the steel, so we had to think
ahead, imagining on the frame where
everything was going to be and how
it was going to climb. We learned
a ton. We’ve done two more with
different techniques and different
concrete applications.
Whit: Mud!
Pat: We’ve had a lot of good feedback
about those. They give kids who
might not have an opportunity to try
climbing a chance to have access to it.
Megan Paulson is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Outlaw Partners.
You may like
Upcoming Events
april, 2024
Event Type :
All
All
Arts
Education
Music
Other
Sports
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before 9/10/2024:
more
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before
9/10/2024: Kindergarten
enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year can be completed by following the
registration process now.
Children
born on or after September 11, 2019: 4K enrollment is now open for
families that have a 4-year-old they would like to enroll in our program for
the 2023-2024 school year. Please complete the 4K Interest Form to
express your interest. Completing this form does not guarantee enrollment into
the 4K program. Enrollment is capped at twenty 4-year-olds currently
residing within Big Sky School District boundary full time and will be
determined by birth date in calendar order of those born on or after September
11, 2018. Interest form closes on May 30th.
Enrollment now is critical for fall preparations. Thank you!
Time
February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
more
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
Time
March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
Location
Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
more
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
Event Details
Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome
Event Details
Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome to come, if you don’t know who to bring come alone this is a great mixer event! This is an event hosted by Big Sky OUT as we work to provide queer safe spaces throughout the community.
Time
(Sunday) 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location
Cowboy Coffee
25 Town Center Ave. Big Sky, MT 59716