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AV8 Arts Turns Aerospace Leftovers Into Bespoke Art

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Artist Marc Correll used passion for cars and industrial design to launch a company dedicated to creating one-of-a-kind airborne-based art

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AV8’s “Excelsior” is a showpiece at the headquarters of HRE Wheels, and it includes one of the company’s forged performance wheels.


Several years ago a friend approached Marc Correll with a problem. He had a warehouse full of expensive airplane parts that he could no longer sell to commercial airline operators because of their age. When Correll set foot in the hanger, he didn’t see functionally obsolete wings, engines and rotors. He saw raw material to create his vision for interesting and exciting industrial art and start AV8 Arts.

Correll’s career started in the automotive industry with a passion for classic cars and anything that could move under its own power. Today, Correll and the team at AV8 Arts have built more than 20 custom pieces for lovers of industrial design, using the incredible airplane components at their disposal. Their art is unique, functional, sleek, inspiring and commanding.

One of Correll’s pieces, “Excelsior,” is housed in the customer lounge at the headquarters of performance wheel manufacturer HRE Wheels. It has legs made from GE-manufactured shaft assemblies from Boeing 737-3 and 737-4 aircraft. The counter base is a component of a Pratt & Whitney engine used for the Boeing 747-100. For the bar top, Correll called on Mel Gragirena at L.A. Fabricators to build a custom one out of black walnut. The rich, dark wood is topped off by a unique display case featuring one of HRE’s forged wheels.

“I wanted something that: 1) could be functional for our office, 2) was substantial and detailed enough to be visually impactful and 3) had features that would allow certain design components to be attached,” said HRE Creative Director Patrick Moran. “The engine part that I ultimately chose was a large cylinder with a nice patina finish. [It] had beautiful blade details as well as a ring around the outside perfect for supporting some sort of table top. It’s one of those things in our office that people don’t expect to see and therefore are drawn to it. People walk by and stop in their tracks, asking what it is. The glass table top allows them to look at the wheel inside, but also [at] all the detail from the original part, so you find yourself gazing deeper and deeper inside.”

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“When the opportunity to build a custom piece for HRE presented itself, I knew it was a perfect match,” said Correll. “Car people love the symmetry in design that our components all have. The finished product artfully displays the beauty of aviation and at the same time showcases one of HRE’s wheels. The two fit together seamlessly.”

To learn more about AV8 Arts and to see a gallery of other pieces in the collection, visit AV8Arts.com.

(Photos courtesy of AV8 Arts)

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