“Art in Flight” now in Ludington Park
The metal sculpture is located across from the Delta County Historical Society.
ESCANABA Mich. (WLUC) - A new flock of birds made their way to Escanaba and is here to stay. Individual metal birds – each one different – together make up the “Art in Flight” metal sculpture in Ludington Park.
“These represent everybody that put their heart and soul into this. It was a lot of fun,” said Paula Jordan, events coordinator for the Bonifas Art Center.
The Bonifas received a grant of about $17,000 from Art Bridges, an organization supporting American art.
“To be able to continue our connection with a community through art. As you can see, we’ve connected with a lot of different artists,” said Jordan.
That money was used to purchase technology for virtual art classes and supplies for “Art in Flight.” The inspiration for the metal sculpture came from community member Beth Peterson.
“It was her original idea and concept, the birds, the swallows in flight. I got the project and took it and ran with it and this is what we came up with,” said Jordan.
In a year’s time, the Bonifas turned that idea into a reality.
“In the last week or so it’s been a little hectic and trying to get everything together and making it all happen and working with different contractors and stuff has been interesting,” said Jordan.
Each of the birds was painted by different people in the community and each of the poles have a little bit of give, allowing the birds to look like they’re flying through the wind.
“Art in flight” will be in Ludington Park across from the Delta County Historical Society for three years. The birds continue inside the Bonifas with more than 1,100 paper birds from school aged children.
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