MUSKEGON, Mich. — A new public art installation is ready to be shipped from a studio in Norton, Carolina to the City of Muskegon's Pere Marquette Beach.
The piece of art, called Celebrating Muskegon, will be located in the roundabout at Pere Marquette Park. The goal of the piece is to provide an iconic entryway to the lakefront.
The art was created by John Littleton and Kate Vogel with the goal to pay tribute to the character and resiliency of the people and communities of Muskegon.
The sculpture is 22 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. It was also be lit from within, with each band of glass containing programmable LED lights.
Vogel and Littleton recently completed a test assembly of Celebrating Muskegon.
"When it all goes together seamlessly it's so gratifying," said Vogel.
The final touches to the work will be made this week. Then it will be disassembled and carefully packed into a 22-foot box truck to be moved to Pere Marquette Beach.
"I'm like oh my goodness I want to make sure that we make something really special for the community," said Vogel.
Vogel and Littleton believe they've created a work of art that will hold the energy of the city's beach. They used brightly colored one inch thick cast glass to represent the natural environment at the beach and stainless steel pipes and rings to represent the strength of the community's industrial base.
"Those rings will hold that energy and the beauty of Muskegon," said Vogel.
Celebrating Muskegon is part of the Muskegon City Public Art Initiative, a project launched in July 2018 with a goal to add up to ten new significant works of art to the public art collection in the City of Muskegon.
An underwriter for the project has committed $250,000 to support the new works with a pledge of $25,000 per work of art.
"I always believe that with art more is more," said Judith Hayner, Project Director for the Muskegon City Public Art Initiative.
The donor wants to see more high-quality works of art all around the city from downtown to the beach.
The first two big works Moxie and A City Built On Timber are already in place and later this summer two rusty train bridges that cross over Seaway Drive will be covered in art.
The effort to install Celebrating Muskegon is expected to begin the week of April 19.
"I think people are going to be really surprised, and very proud of what's going to happen here," said Hayner.