Restoring NIMBUS

The Kickstarter may be over, but you can still help support the restoration of the NIMBUS today!

The Icon

Imagine that you’re soaring through the clouds on a brass craft, lifted into the air by revolving glass globes, swimming through the sky on paddle-like wings. The design, complex and intricate, the inspiration, steampunk in nature. Two Erie artists, David Seitzinger and John Vahanian, joined their creative forces in the 70s, and fabricated a collection of these UFMs, or Unidentified Flying Machines.

Join us in welcoming the return of one of these devices, a past Erie Art Museum staple, NIMBUS. Finished in 1979, this striking sculpture was fashioned from sheets of glass and brass, tubing and fittings from antique lamps, silver, electric motors, and other technological materials. The steampunk aesthetic of NIMBUS was inspired by the inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci, the art of Buckminster Fuller, the adventures of Buck Rogers, and the cinematic universe of George Lucas’ original Star Wars Trilogy.

The Voyage

NIMBUS has enjoyed a long journey, starting in 1979, when it was chosen to be displayed at former governor Richard Thornburgh’s inaugural festivities at the William Penn Memorial Museum in Harrisburg. It soared alongside the works of nine other Pennsylvania based artists such as Alexander Calder. The motorized sculpture was also exhibited at the Erie Art Center in 1979. It first sailed into port at the Robinson-Conner corporate offices in Erie, PA. It then made the voyage to the lobby of Erie’s main chapter of Northwest Savings Bank until it glided into its current home in 2012, as part of the Erie Art Museum’s permanent collection.

The Process

The list of restorations that it needs is extensive. The light bulbs that illuminate its English leaded stained glass domes have to be replaced, the mechanisms that power the rudders and paddles need fixed, and nearly every piece of the vessel will be polished to a sheen. The process is long, delicate, and tedious, involving many tools and an immense amount of time and feats of precision.

With your support, you will enable us to pay the artists for the time it takes to restore the piece to its original condition, as well as help fund the materials, supplies, and hardware necessary to get it back into working order. With additional backing, we plan to purchase additional installation hardware (so that it can hang in style!) and custom lighting for the piece. Your further support will also help cover staff time for the long process of placing the sculpture, as well as to produce quality signage to set NIMBUS apart from an already incredible collection. We thank you for your support and are excited to finally bring back this piece of art museum and Erie History.

The Artists

David Seitzinger is a retired commercial artist, inventor, and toy designer, while John Vahanian has made a name for himself as a glass worker and expressionist painter. David and John met at Columbus State University and worked together on their flying machines from the mid 70s into the early 80s. Both artists have been working hard at restoring the “flying machine” in the basement of the Customs House so that Museum visitors can enjoy it again. As it had in the past, we hope that NIMBUS will wow and delight our visitors, members, and patrons for years to come.