Creating an outdoor sculpture, not to mention one over 120 square feet in size, was a first for Cahalan, whose previous work had been limited to smaller-scaled wall art. Though metal is her regular medium, Cahalan chose 5051 aluminum for this project because of its higher-than-average copper percentage, which makes it more resistant to corrosion. To ensure that the acrylic paint she used would adhere to the aluminum pieces, the first step once was to degrease, abrade, and prime each piece. Photo courtesy of Mimi Cahalan