Photo description:

Downtown Biz employee David Messenger cleans and polishes spheres on Portage Ave. near the MTS Centre. from the web: There are sixteen 3’ marbles and five 4’6” diameter marbles along Portage. The marbles are made out of six different colours of gel coat resin that is sprayed into two separate mould halves. The two pieces are then glued together forming the sphere. The ball is then sanded to get rid of any imperfections and the seam finished/smoothed over with bondo. The designs were then taped out and painted onto the marbles with automotive paint. The glowing lights are achieved from the natural gel coat colour that is covered with two to three layers of top coat. A 100 Watt bulb is placed inside the marble to create the glowing effect. They were installed by groundhog anchors. The plants are planted in a felt ‘pocket’ inside the marble. The Marbles on Portage project was officially opened at noon on July 31, 2012 with ice cream and marble give-aways in Air Canada Park. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS December 2, 2013