900-pound coffee mug planters served up on Piedmont Street in Worcester

WORCESTER — From the murals of POW! WOW! Worcester to metal sculptures alongside the road, the city has taken the term "street art" to another level.

Having watched the city develop over the years, Worcester native Arthur Mooradian decided he wanted to make a contribution of his own to the city’s character.

“I enjoy the public art,” said Mooradian, who runs a real estate business on Piedmont Street. “Every time I see a new mural or sculpture, I’m just enjoying it and want to be a part of it in a small way.”

The end result would not necessarily be called small, however. Two planters in the shape of giant coffee mugs, each 900 pounds, now grace Piedmont Street and will remain there through the fall.

Mooradian said he intends to bring them out every year “as a kind of landmark,” and eventually plans to add six more along the street.

Preservation Worcester

The coffee theme comes from Mooradian’s long involvement with Preservation Worcester. Executive Director Deborah Packard explained that the organization had done a promotion late last year selling holiday-themed mugs.

“Arthur heard about that and built his wonderful mug planters,” she said. Like their inspiration, the planters are bright red.

“As I’m looking at what I have lying around my shop, there were some massive pipes and I said I could make a large coffee mug out of these,” Mooradian said.

The shop in question is a pipe shop at 28 Piedmont St. that Mooradian purchased three years ago to use as a storage and maintenance area.

Completely composed of recycled materials, the planters came about as much from Mooradian’s desire to recycle as much as possible as to create art.

“We do a lot of work on our properties in-house and we try to use every single thing we have,” he said. With this new project, he saw a chance to give the rusted pipes a new lease on life.

Welding part of the process

The project, from concept to completion, took about six months and was the result of a collaboration between multiple local businesses.

“There’s quite a bit of welding and cutting involved,” Mooradian said while describing the process, with each step managed by a different party.

While Mooradian provided the initial concept and design, the welding of the pipes into a mug shape was done by City Welding on Ararat Street.

“We worked together until we got the proportions just right,” Mooradian said.

Then they were taken to Sutton Lane where Abrasive Blasting and Coating Inc. sandblasted the mugs to remove rust and oxidation residue, and painted them.

The plants that would fill the mug were donated by Barrows Hardware on Webster Street.

This team effort to add some flair to Piedmont street is in keeping with Preservation Worcester’s mission, Packard said.

“One of the things we like to do is celebrate and promote neighborhoods,” she said, “and what (Mooradian) is doing is really celebrating the Piedmont section of Worcester.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Coffee-mug planters donated for Piedmont Street by Worcester native