The man with the chair plan
Long-time Beach resident Artie Monro has no artistic background -although his first name would steer you differently. But, the maintenance man at Estero Beach & Tennis Club enjoys making a good sculpture … using lawn chairs.
Monro, who has worked at EB & T for 4 1/2 years, began using idle lawn chairs one morning to create a design on the grassy Gulf side of the club’s pool. That was eight months ago and the encore performances haven’t stopped.
“I did one one day, and people asked me what I was going to do next,” said Monro. “It’s been that way ever since. I’ve been doing one a week on weekends, and a month into season I started doing one on Saturday and Sunday.”
One morning when most of the seasonal guests had arrived, Monro decided to greet them by spelling out ‘HI Y’ALL’ with lawn chairs. On New year’s Day, his creation of a giant ‘2010’ took every chair on the property.
Though he’s back down to one sculpture per week since season has subsided, Monro is still taking his off-the-clock art work seriously. He arrives at Estero Beach & Tennis Club at 5 a.m. to begin another creation. Some of his designs are simple and some are more elaborate figures including an Easter basket, Zippo lighter, tricycle, dinosaur, sailboat, light bulb, palm tree, butterfly, a snail and a toothpaste squirting onto a toothbrush.
“They love it, and that’s why I’m doing it,” he said about the residents of Estero Beach & Tennis Club. “It’s something different when you wake up in the morning.”
Monro says he gets each sculpture idea on his pre-sunrise bicycle ride to work. But, don’t ask him for a specific design.
“I never plan it, and I don’t take any requests,” he said. “Some take me a while, while some are easy. I’d do sketches before the sculptures but I can’t draw.”
On Saturday, May 8, Monro used 30 chairs to create an anchor. He’s been known to use as many as 40 chairs on some designs. Unlike most artists, he doesn’t critique or change any of his work after viewing it from an aerial viewpoint. When he has finished with a particular piece, he’s done with that particular piece.
“I just go to the grassy area, do it and come up here (sixth floor of the main building) to take a picture,” said Monro. “I just walk around it, and it looks right when I’m done.”
Residents of Estero Beach & Tennis Club are appreciative of the time and effort Monro puts forth.
“I think it’s really nice that people appreciate what he does above and beyond what his normal job is,” said EB & T condo owner Sandy Shea. “It doesn’t take him that long to do it. Obviously, he has some artistic ability. “
Will he go as far as to stack lawn chairs in the future?
“I try to keep it one level, and I try not to use the smaller sit-down chairs,” said Monro. “It messes it up somehow.”