University of Mobile

September 13, 2007

Peace of Art
University of Mobile president escapes stress by welding crafts in his garage ‘sanctuary’

By GEORGE R. ALTMAN
Staff Reporter

Craftsman and University of Mobile President Mark Foley displays a creation he calls “Tough Set.” The decorative guitar features a pick guard autographed by jazz musician Les Paul. Foley built the guitar out of steel, wood, cabinet knobs and other materials.

Mark Foley holds an important position as the president of the University of Mobile. He gets relief from the pressures of his job by retreating to the garage with a blowtorch to produce unusual works of art. Foley makes his creations from metal - and sometimes from ordinary household items such as nails and tacks, as in the tractor. Foley welded the decorative tractor to give to a friend as a present.

On cool winter weekends, Mark Foley puts aside his work as president of the University of Mobile and finds his peace in the garage, with steel, brass and a blowtorch.

"When I'm in here, I pick up a ... welding torch and a piece of steel or piece of wood, and it changes into something right then," Foley said. ''That's an important moment."

Foley, 57, said he has been welding art for about 10 years, since he inherited tools from his father-in-law and father. Foley welds to honor those men and to work away the stress that comes with running a 1,500-student university, he said.

He has many different creations, ranging from a guitar of steel and wood with copper strings to decorative Bowie knives to a crucifix, complete with brass drops to represent the blood of Jesus Christ.

Foley welds in spurts, sometimes not donning his welder's mask for months, other times crafting new works in intensive two- or three-day sessions.

If there is nothing pressing to do and ''it's not so blazing hot in here that you can't stand it," Foley said he will stay in the garage all day.

Foley's wife, Marilyn, can attest to that.
It was February 2006, and Foley said he spent Friday night and the whole of Saturday welding in his garage, while his wife was visiting family in Atlanta.

"I didn't bring the phone with me and didn't realize she was trying to call me, I was so intensely involved," he said.

Marilyn Foley, when she failed to reach her husband, called friends and neighbors, but most were out of town.
"I started getting kind of worried," she said. Finally, she called the police.
"Boy, was I in trouble," he said. And soon after, the Foley garage got a new addition: a clock on the back wall.

Clock or no clock, when Foley welds in his ''sanctuary," he slips the bonds of time.
"Working with the tools is something that I grew up doing, and so I reflect back on a different time of life," he said.

Foley's family owned a trucking business when he was young, and he often found himself working as the chief mechanic's go-fer. Foley said that he learned most of his mechanical skills during this time and still welds on the old truck shop work bench.

Foley keeps some of his handcrafted creations for use around the couple's Mobile home, but most of them go to friends and family.

"Usually, a piece starts with a story or a person and is tailored to that person," he said.
Foley gave Jim Averett, former chairman of the university's Board of Trustees, a telescope with a wind vane and a clock.

"That telescope was my way of saying to him that 'I appreciate the way you can look into the future and help me understand,'" Foley said.

Foley shows pride in all of his creations, but the crucifix he gave his wife, which he named ''I Am the Vine," carries the most meaning for him.

A crown of thorns hangs from the top of the crucifix, with steel vines growing from drops that represent Christ's blood. Fruit hanging from these vines signifies the benefits of a relationship with Christ, Foley said.

Foley hopes to extend that image beyond his personal life to the private, Baptist-affiliated university he oversees.

"I want people to know that that's part of the culture - it's the core of the culture - of the University of Mobile," Foley said. ''I hope that before my time is done at the university, there is a 10-foot version of this on our campus."

Mark Foley used an old saw blade to make this head for a decorative lawn planter that he calls “Big Bird.”
Foley’s artistry and craftsmanship are drawn from the mechanical skills he learned working in his family’s trucking business. “Working with the tools is something that I grew up doing, and so I reflect back on a different time of life,” he says.

This sculpture, titled “I Am the Vine,” carries the most meaning for Mark Foley out of all his creations. The crucifix incorporates a crown of thorns, steel vines growing from drops that represent Jesus Christ’s blood, and fruit growing from the vines that signifies the benefits of a relationship with Christ.

Last modified : Wednesday, October 17, 2007 1:21 PM
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