© 2024 KRWG
News that Matters.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Magellan the Dragon will float again at the Las Cruces Renaissance ArtsFaire

  Usually spotting a dragon is cause for concern — just watch an episode of “Game of Thrones” — but at the Doña Ana Arts Council’s 45th Annual Renaissance ArtsFaire November 5 – 6 at Young Park, seeing the new and improved Magellan floating on the lake could bring a loud “HUZZAH!!” from the crowd.

 

Local artist and Renaissance man Bob Diven first came up with the idea for a large-scale dragon when he was serving on the board of the arts council in the early 1990s. It occurred to him that while the faire filled the park, the lake was not being utilized. He proposed creating a dragon that would float on the lake and soon was busy building a dragon using materials such as chicken wire, upholstery fabric, plywood, and Peterbilt truck horns to give him a lusty roar. With about $1000 in materials and some volunteer help, Diven brought Magellan the Dragon to life.

 

Diven said, “Magellan was built like those wooden disc dinosaurs you’d see at a natural history museum. We launched him that year not knowing if he’d float, turn over, or sink, but he floated just fine. So within the next four or five years, we just got it dialed in. We improved it for ease of assembly and transport. He would open his mouth and roar. The sound was a collection of air horns that was taken off a wrecked Peterbilt semi. People said it sounded more like a honk than a roar, and that made sense.”

 

Over the 20 years, Magellan became the mascot of the faire and a local Boy Scout troop began offering canoe rides as a fundraiser to give faire attendees the opportunity to see the dragon up close and personal. But, as time went by, Magellan began showing his age.

 

“Age and a handling accident ended up severely wounding the front part of the dragon. So the question was if we should put money into repairing it. But I thought it was a good opportunity to build the dragon anew. I had spent a summer working with an internationally renowned dinosaur sculptor and wanted to make him a true sculpture,” Diven explained.

 

But the new Magellan was not going to be a one-man job. There had been an article about the injured dragon, which Dr. Pat Hynes, director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, had read. She was interested and got together Diven, the arts council, the College of Engineering Capstone Program, and a grant from NASA to provide funding, matched by Diven’s in-kind contribution of his talent and labor.

 

Diven began the involved process by sculpting a scale model, a cast of which was sent to California where it was scanned and a three-dimensional carving was made out of foam at full size. Back in New Mexico, Diven applied a fiberglass cloth reinforced epoxy coating to the dragon, molding and casting the head and jaw parts, and creating the spines and horns.

 

NMSU students in the Capstone Program, seniors in their final semester, would work on the new Magellan to help make him more technically advanced than the first dragon. This Magellan can turn his neck and head, and open his mouth to roar (with a new sound recorded by Diven of his own voice, lending a bit more of himself to his creation), and blow smoke. There is the potential to upgrade it so there can be a live feed showing what Magellan sees and a motion sensor so he can automatically turn to look at canoes paddling by.

 

Last year, after two years of work by numerous Capstone teams, NMSU turned the project over the Doña Ana Community College’s Engineering Manufacturing Program, led by Luis Meza. They hit the ground running in 2015 when they took over the dragon from NMSU and worked to launch him in the lake, running into problems with the head coming loose during transportation, listing due to the addition of a new battery to run Magellan’s motors, and problems with the launching ramp. So, last year Magellan spent the faire resting on the ground rather than floating majestically on the lake. Which, both Diven and Meza say, provided a unique and unexpected opportunity for people to interact with the dragon.

 

Diven said, “I was concerned about disappointing people, but something magical happened. It had been handed off to DACC, so Luis brought in his students. They were there with their controls and the kids were coming up interacting with Magellan. I have video of this little girl communicating with him. It was roaring and blowing smoke. She was shushing him when he roared, and then hugging him to calm him. It saved the weekend for me, this unexpected gift.”

 

This fall, DACC students will be at the lake getting Magellan back to his rightful place. Before that day, there’s more to be done, although much work has already been completed. They still have to correct some of the issues that plagued the dragon last year and do some tests to ensure he will float properly.

 

Several students will be involved at the park, working with the electronics that allow Magellan to interact with his admirers, but for now, Meza says, “Michael Vinz has been the main student helping manufacture the parts to help get Mr. Magellan back in the water.”

 

So, just as it takes a village to raise a child, it has taken a wide range of people with various talents and skills to bring the beloved Magellan back to the Renaissance Arts Faire. When you wander by the lake at Young Park this year snacking on a turkey leg or other delectable snack, ponder how much work it took to bring the dragon back to life. And if you catch Robert the Ratcatcher’s catapult show, take a moment to thank him (because the rat catcher is that Renaissance man, Bob Diven).

 

The 45th Annual Renaissance ArtsFaire at Young Park (just south of Lohman Ave. on Walnut) is open Saturday, November 5, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday, November 6, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tickets are $8 per person and children 12 and under entering for free. There is a “Royal Carriage” (free park-and-ride shuttle) running every 15 minutes from the south-west corner of the Mesilla Valley Mall parking lot. More information can be found online at www.daarts.org or by calling (575) 523-6403.