Local artist creates large sign for SoDA District
By Kathy Thomson
Michael Christopher Matson, a long time artist and a fairly recent addition to Albany, was selected earlier this year to craft the sign that now marks the South of Downtown Abilene (SoDA) district in Abilene.
The sign was installed at 833 South First Street on Saturday, Aug. 10, and the official ribbon cutting to commemorate the installation of the S.o.D.A. District Wayfinding Sign, took place this Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 10:00 a.m.
“I think that everyone is really happy with how it turned out and excited about the sign,” said Matson. “When we lit it up, it sure had that retro-vintage sign feel. It’s mounted on something that is 20 feet tall already, so it sits up almost 40 feet and is really dominating in the space.”
The artist’s sculptures have been displayed at various venues in the Metroplex, but this is his first large piece in Abilene.
“The project started from my new forged relationships in Abilene with Tim Smith (owner of the SoDA Courtyard) and Stephanie Prosser (an artist in Abilene),” said Matson. “Tim shot me an image and asked if I could make it. That small, pretty normal, old-style metal neon sign developed into an 18-foot tall sculpture sign.”
The sign was designed in the shape of an airplane wing as a nod to Dyess Air Force Base, combined with similarities to oil rig construction, according to the artist.
Matson, who has years of experience working with a variety of materials, not only built the sign, but also crafted the neon lights.
“I did not intend on actually making the neon but the sign shop we brought onboard ended up hiring me as their glassblower,” Matson said.
The neon shop owner, Brad Bardin, did all of the electrical work on the sign.
Although it is unusual for an artist to have the skill set to also make neon, years ago Matson dropped out of high school in Arlington to work in a neon shop in Richardson, working for the family that had constructed the Pegasus in downtown Dallas.
“I knew I wanted to pursue art as a teenager,” he said. “I spent several years (at the neon shop) and became the foreman. But it has not been my focus since I started working on a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2003.”
Matson has only lived in Shackelford County a couple of years, but he has family ties to the area.
“I moved here to take care of my mom and to honor my grandmother, Alma Godfrey, and all she did here,” said Matson. “And I wanted to add to the rich art history of West Texas, like Donald Judd did before me.”
Other things that attracted the artist to Albany included the Old Jail Art Center and having plenty of space to grow a garden and keep bees.
“I named my art studio in Albany ‘Spade Studio’ after my great-great grandfather Spade Evans, who started the Spade Ranch with Charles Goodnight,” he said. “I want to showcase my work out front for everyone.”
The SoDA District sign does that remarkably well, with white neon lights framed inside the letters, and the interior of the sign lit up by an ever changing rainbow of colors.
