Connecting community through art

If the pursuit of work-life balance is society's self-help mantra du jour, William Colburn has apparently not gotten the memo. Probably because he's been working.

The artist, sculptor, businessman, and entrepreneur William Colburn gave his interview to Iron City INK over a cacophony of machines grinding in the background of his metal shop in Woodlawn just a few days before the opening of his new sculpture garden/music venue/event center/bar/restaurant pop-up, and he never once indicated that this level of multi-tasking in his day was abnormal.

If anything, Colburn might be slowing down a little from his normal activity. He describes his new entrepreneurial venture, Elysian Gardens, as "retirement from the road," the road being the circuit of art shows he has attended around the country for the past thirty years. Rare is the person who riffs on retirement as he is starting a new business and still running his existing, highly hands-on one.

William Colburn is a Birmingham native, the son of an artist and an engineer. As a kid he played at Sloss, where his dad worked. He loved football. He played for Banks High School with John Archibald, now a Pulitzer-prize winning columnist and author, under coach David Cutliffe, who went on to be head coach at Duke for 14 years.

The discipline of training suited his high energy levels and he developed a work ethic that stuck with him. He started his first business in air and hydraulics in college and sold it at age 23.

Using welding and machining skills learned in part from his father, Colburn began making metal art sculptures: large flowers, ornamental gates, and animal pieces like his popular hound dog holding a double barrel shotgun. Iron Age Studio came to life.

George Barber found Colburn at an art show in Fairhope and bought Colburn's first giant flower. His sculptures can be seen all around Barber Motorsports Park. The City Parks of Miami commissioned his work. Robert Redford has a Colburn sculpture on his ranch. Leaf & Petal has been a customer for decades.

Colburn built a successful business but he had a nagging vision for more: a community art space that would enable people to connect with their neighbors. Colburn loved the progress he'd seen in Birmingham and knew that bringing people together was key to keeping the momentum.

The idea floundered hazily in his mind for years until a conversation with another entrepreneur brought it into sharp contrast.

"It was Jimmy Buffett who gave me the key, the inspiration to really move forward," Colburn says. He met Buffett via Buffett's sister, Lucy, who lived down the street from Colburn when he lived in Fairhope.

"Jimmy said, 'I've probably made more money selling beer than I have singing,' and I thought, I bet if I sell beer then I can make the rest of it work," says Colburn.

He bought property in Avondale. He went about getting architecture and engineering going but hit snag after snag until he won REV Birmingham's 2019 The Big Pitch, a Shark Tank-style business plan competition.

"I was about to give up when REV Birmingham came to the rescue. I could not have done this without them. They know everything," Colburn says.

Now his years-in-the-making vision has come to fruition. On the formerly overgrown site of a burned down church, there is now a sculpture garden. There's a bar made from two shipping containers with an outdoor patio. The butterfly chairs at the bar were made by Colburn. He painted them all blue in honor of his mother, who passed away from cancer in 2019. He made all the tables, windows, and doors, too.

Local musicians are playing there. Jerrod Atkins and Jacob Mathews of the Steel City Jug Slammers, Taylor Hollingsworth, Rachel Cole, and Anthony Sutton have all performed in Elysian Gardens' opening weeks.

The BBQ Box will soon operate from one of the other two shipping containers that Colburn has outfitted as restaurant space. Food trucks come out too. Much of this is coordinated by Colburn's right-hand, his daughter, Dessa, making the entire project a family affair. The pair hope to offer pop-up space to artists of all mediums, in addition to space for aspiring chefs, musicians, and comedians. They also plan to host yoga and drum circles in the garden.

"The big idea is about filling in this gap of connection," says Colburn. "I want to create opportunities for all artists and to use art as an economic engine that will help people connect and improve their quality of life and the quality of life in general for everyone in Birmingham."