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William (bc) (Bill) Collins with Granddaughter at the Iron Grill Pig Statue is a picture, with genre photograph, group portraits and sculpture. Its dimensions are 6 in. x 4 in..
It was created in 2020.
Artist and signmaker William (bc) (Bill) Collins is pictured here holding his granddaughter as she reaches over her head to touch the pig statue in front of the Iron Grill Barbeque & Brew restaurant at 5295 North High Street. bc designed and created the pig statue for the restaurant when it opened at this spot in Beechwold in June, 2001 as the Pig Iron BBQ, in what had formerly been a McDonald's restaurant. In June, 2012, the Pig Iron changed ownership and became Iron Grill Barbeque & Brew, but the well-known pig sign out front remained. bc repainted the sign with the change in ownership, and once, upon noticing birds nesting in one of the pig's legs, repaired the statue for free.
The sculpture was created from high density urethane built on a framework made by Fortin and carved by bc. The sculpture has LED lights for the eyes.
In this photograph, bc's granddaughter reaches up to touch the snout of the pig. The lower front half of the statue is just visible in the picture.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, bc attended Columbus College of Art and Design when it was still a small art school, majoring in Fine Art. After serving in the Army in Europe, he became a sign artist for businesses throughout the Columbus area, starting his sole ownership sign business in 1978. Over nearly three decades, he created some of the most iconic advertising art in central Ohio.
Before the advent of computers and the use of vinyl, bc designed, created and sold his signs marketing his work through word of mouth. He cut letters with a router, made and pounced patterns, projected designs on a variety of objects then finished the job by painting and installing the sign.
bc created signs for numerous Worthington-area businesses, including Angels on High, Scottie MacBean, Pig Iron BBQ (now Iron Grill Barbeque and Brew), P.K. O'Ryan's, The Old Bag of Nails Pub, Celtic Corner, Magic Cruises & Tours and M.S. Abbott Jewelers.
In addition to his sign art, bc was an accomplished muralist, sculptor and painter of portraits, landscapes and other work, which were exhibited in galleries throughout central Ohio. In April 2022, bc’s 1992, 25-foot mural of the Columbus skyline became part of the permanent collection at The Ohio Arts Council.
bc and his family lived in Worthington for 22 years.
It covers the topics artists, restaurants, signs, children and art.
It features the person William (bc) (Bill) Collins, 1943-2020.
It features the organization Iron Grill Barbeque & Brew.
It covers the city Columbus.
The original is in a private collection.
This file was reformatted digital in the format video/jpeg.
The Worthington Memory identification code is wcd0459.
This metadata record was human prepared by Worthington Libraries on November 30, 2022. It was last updated December 2, 2022.