Geranium flowers cover the windows of the tower that connects Bluff and Washington streets in Marquette. Artists Elizabeth and Elisa Howe, Dyana Nefe and Chris Collins painted the flowers near the Phil Niemisto Pocket Park for Art Week. (Journal photo by Corey Kelly)

By COREY KELLY

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Muralist Elizabeth Howe, in collaboration with other artists and downtown business owners, created a display to honor the memory of Phil Niemisto for Art Week.

Earlier this year, Howe was approached by Arts and Culture Manager Tiina Harris to create a large-scale piece for the event. After Howe tossed around a few ideas with her co-collaborators, she decided that the work would honor the late Niemisto and that it would be exhibited at the Phil Niemisto Pocket Park.

“It wasn’t me so much as it was a bunch of people who said, ‘what can we do to honor Phil in his park?'” Howe said. “The design and the process of mulling through all the different ways it could be done took a couple of months, the pieces themselves took a couple of weeks.”

Howe chose to use Plexiglas pieces to represent Niemesto’s career as a window washer and paint geraniums, a flower beloved by him, on each sheet. Howe, with artists Elisa Howe, Dyana Nefe and Chris Collins, covered the large windows of the tower that connects Bluff Street to Washington with giant geraniums.

“He just was this little guy who made a connection to people all across town, he loved the flowers and he loved the people that he windows washed for,” Elizabeth Howe said.

Local businesses like Java Bay, Michigan Made, Donckers and Gathered Earth helped make the project a possibility by donating funds for the cost of the project’s materials.

In Howe’s artist statement, she reflects on the impact Phil had on the community, his ability to bring people together and spread joy. She is hoping the artwork will do the same.

“It’s very cheerful, and it makes people happy, that’s what we were hoping for,” she said.

Corey Kelly can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 243. Her email address is photos@miningjournal.net.