Brent Crothers Sculpture Installation at Graw Alley

Reimagined. Recycled. Remarkable.

Located in the heart of Graw Alley, this powerful installation features three large-scale sculptures by local artist Brent Crothers, whose work transforms discarded materials into thought-provoking forms that explore rebirth, resourcefulness, and the future of our planet.

These works are part of Crothers’ Water Wars series and reflect a deeply personal journey shaped by resilience, recovery, and a profound respect for nature.

Artist Statement

Don’t we all want to express something about this world we find ourselves living in? I’m not a writer, so what I do to voice my concerns, my dreams, and my questions is to wrestle, rip, stack, bend, wrap, tie, bind, burn, hang, pile, cut, chisel, nail, solder, weave, bolt, drill, beat, and grind materials in such ways to create sculptural forms that have their own stories to tell. These pieces are part of a searching dialogue between me and the world. At the root of this work is a respect for nature and the questioning of all the wasted materials that surround us. More and more I’m incorporating unappreciated and discarded materials, transforming them into small communities to create forms and giving the materials new life.

In my art I’ve come to believe that there can be no separation between humanitarian, social, political, and environmental issues. We need creative thinking in every aspect of our lives today more than ever.

- Brent Crothers

Water Wars #2

Part of the Water Wars Series
reclaimed garden hoses

"I came upon a pile of garden hoses headed for the landfill and thought they deserved more than that. I acquired and found more discarded hoses that water used to run though. The accumulating and making of this piece took a number of years to bring together. Slowly, the hoses were tied and woven into a sphere which eventually grew into an elongated human-sized egg. It's hard for us in the West to imagine a world without fresh H2O, but that's where we are heading if we don't change things, and soon."

The Sculptures

The Egg as Symbol

Throughout this collection, the egg form appears as a unifying motif.

Following a serious health crisis, Crothers began creating egg-like structures as symbols of rebirth, renewal, and the perfection of natural design. These forms anchor the collection in both personal meaning and universal symbolism.

Experience the Installation

Visitors to Graw Alley are invited to walk among these sculptures, experiencing their scale, texture, and layered meaning up close. Each piece tells a story not only through its form, but through the history of the materials themselves.

The installation encourages reflection on sustainability, consumption, and the interconnected challenges of our world.

Visit Graw Alley

115 Market Street
Havre de Grace, MD

Free and open to the public.

Dedication &

Community Legacy

These sculptures will be formally welcomed into Graw Alley during a community dedication event on April 18, 2026, featuring reflections from Brent Crothers’ family and community members.

This installation stands as both an artistic landmark and a tribute to Crothers’ legacy, inviting ongoing engagement from visitors, artists, and the community.

Golden Egg #2

Part of the Water Wars Series
recycled tire treads

"Many layers of used tire treads wrapped around an old small fiberglass water tank to create an egg or cocoon type of form. This piece is part of the Water Wars series. The tires are symbolic, for me, of oil and the Industrial Revolution. Oil is part of the root of the many power struggles today, but the real liquid gold of today and the future is fresh water and it will be through the power of oil that it will be controlled."

Synergy

Part of the Water Wars Series
reclaimed copper pipe

"My brother knew I'd been sick for a long time and called to tell me the price of scrap copper was higher than it had ever been. One day I walked up to the studio with the intention of gathering the copper for recycling. It only took a moment for me to realize that there was too much history in these old pipes and fittings to recycle in that manner. Thus started the 3-year project and sculpture Synergy. I wasn’t even sure where I was going with it at first. Each day I got healthier and so the project grew. I like the human scale of it. Many memories merged."