An entry from Missouri Western State University is among four pieces of canoe-themed art that will be installed in Ann Arbor, Michigan this summer. The Missouri Western entry won a recent public vote to be part of the Canoe Imagine Art installation.
Canoe Imagine Art is a public art project that re-purposes canoes retired by the city of Ann Arbor into works of art, with the purpose of celebrating the history and attributes of the Huron River and/or the city’s park system. Twenty-one works of art were submitted for review. Three were chosen by a citizen jury, and three more, including the Missouri Western entry, were submitted to a public vote.
The winning entry, “Turbine,” was designed by Missouri Western students Heather Lafromboise and Jake Proffit; J. Neil Lawley, assistant professor of art and director of sculpture; and construction professional Dustin Lafromboise. The name is in reference to the movement and occasional turbulence of the river and the history of hydroelectricity generated by the river. The sculpture will stand 11’9” tall and have a diameter of 19’4”. It will be composed of ten (10) recycled canoes, which will be cut in half crossways and arranged into two tilted radial arrays
attached to a central pillar. The arrays will be oriented in opposite directions and approximately 30 degrees off the horizontal axis. They will be mounted to metal discs that will allow the canoes to be rotated (either by hand or wind) around its central axis.
Lawley also submitted his own design, which was also one of the three finalists up for the public vote. The third finalist was designed by a team from the University of Michigan.
The three works chosen by the citizen jury are “Canoe Fan” by Victoria Fuller, “Canoe-vue” by Jeff Zischke and “Tulip” by Ray Katz.
Selected artists will receive a $5,000 honoraria plus up to ten recycled canoes to be used in their artwork. The four selected artworks will be temporarily installed along the Huron River in June of 2015.
The Missouri Western team will travel to Ann Arbor soon to pick up the retired canoes for use in their project, which will be constructed in St. Joseph and transported back to Michigan for the installation.
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.