We have looked at the artwork and installations of Charlie Brouwer quite a lot on this blog and that is probably because he is one of the only artists who works pretty much exclusively with ladders, turning them into sculptures and community art pieces. Recently he has been touring the USA working within different communities to create sculptures in his Rise Up series.  Each sculpture is created from ladders donated by the community and the ladders are returned after the installation ends. The idea is for the community to come together and be able to see their role in the local society represented by their ladder. The ladder is also a symbol of strength and hope, which Brouwer is keen to get across in his artwork. Brouwer's latest piece is in a deserted school house in Alum Ridge, Floyd County, Virginia.  As a resident of Floyd County, Brouwer had often seen the derelict building perched atop a hill and had been intrigued by the location and the history of the site. The schoolhouse was in use until 1957, at which point most people were using the services in neighbouring Floyd; the same thing had happened with the post office and general store as the draw of a larger town with more choice saw residents choosing to shop elsewhere.  When Brouwer entered the building for the first time there were reminders of the people who had last used it; chalkboards were still on the desks and the water pump had not been touched since it was last used to draw up water for the pupils in the late 1950s.  At the peak of its use, there were over 100 pupils a day, at eleven grade levels, several of which would be sharing one room for their lessons. Originally, there was not even a water pump on the site, and two boys would be sent over the road each morning to draw water from a well for the day. Brouwer did not move any of these artefacts and set about creating his installation. As ever, ladders were central to the piece, and he used 52 of them, one for every year that the school was in use.  He used orchard ladders, as they are usually wooden (in keeping with the construction of the schoolhouse) and taper towards the top, giving an interesting appearance when used in a sculpture. The ladders push through the open spaces in the fabric of the building, such as holes in the roof and gaps in windows and walls. They are intended to symbolise the people who attended the school and then went forth from the schoolhouse with their education, into the wider world.  As with all art, the interpretation is subjective and Brouwer loves to hear different viewpoints on his work.  One lady, who remembered the school as it used to be, thought he was depicting it as a reform school, or borstal, with the ladders meant to signify the pupils trying to escape. If one ignores the associations of hope and the future that ladders inspire and focuses instead on the use of ladders in escaping, then this is quite a reasonable thing to assume. Brouwer is just happy that his work is evoking memories and discussions about the schoolhouse and he is keen to get oral histories and old photographs connected to the schoolhouse in order to create a lasting memory of the place after the installation is taken down.