Please close this window to return to the Home Page of shirlebedient.com
| Kids Make Art at Ottawa Art Park Saturday, June 27, 2009 |
 |
|
Ottawa Park is a hands-on
community art park in downtown Cheboygan, Michigan. The park began
with a partnership between the Cheboygan Downtown Development Authority
and the Cheboygan Area Arts Council, the Chamber of Commerce and
a
grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. The
park is designed to be a downtown destination for summer park activities.
The park was dedicated in May of 2007. |
|
|
 |
| " Friends of Ottawa Park" was incorporated
in February of 2007. They continue to raise funds to carry out the vision
for the Park explains Joann Leal, Executive Director of the Cheboygan
Area Arts Council. There have been three Artists-in-Residence to direct
Park activities in the summer. The first was Molly Jo Noland in 2005,
Mary Kronberg, 2006 and Shirle Bedient in 2007. |
|
| Four giant steel arches were installed on the berm between
each of the five Crimson Maples in 2005. These arches serve as the frames
for painted 4' x 4' painted mural canvases that are changed quarterly.
Interested artists can receive information about submitting a design
to do one of these themed canvases by contacting The Gildner Gallery
at (231) 627-2121. |
||
 |
 |
 |
| 2006 was another busy year. A 21-1/2 x 20 foot pavilion was constructed to house an activities/discoveries area. The Pavilion consists of 6 concrete pillars supporting an arts-and-craft like roof structure. Mosaic work on the pillars began that summer under the direction of Mary Kronberg. The sculptural centerpiece, a twelve foot tall sculpture depicting a topographical view of Lake Huron created by artist Brian Ferriby, was installed. Molly Jo Noland, local artist and art instructor at the high school, designed an 8 foot bench in the shape of a fish with the help of her husband, Ken Myles. The bench will be finished with mosaic tiles created during the Ottawa Park community workshops which Noland directed in 2005. | ||
My
Summer as Artist-in-Residence at Ottawa Park - 2007 |
|||||
| Over 200 participants of all ages and from across the United States have helped complete the mosaic designs on the Ottawa Park pavilion pillars in the summer of 2007 under the my direction. Their enthusiasm and appreciation for the opportunity to leave their "mark on the park" and become a part of our history has been touching and inspiring. The mosaic is primarily broken china with accents of ceramic tile and plate glass mirror. This year the pillars each took on a theme. Click on a thumbnail below to see a more views and details of each pillar. | |||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Whimsy |
Sun, Moon & Stars |
Leaves, Land & Lakes |
Oceans of Art |
Heritage of the Lakes |
Hearts & Flowers |