Ishpeming High School students Taylor Longtine, left, and Dawson Lawry stand by their artwork they created with fellow student Abbi Bruhnke. This piece and other student-created art are on display at the new Hematite Art Park, located across from the high/middle school. (Journal photo by Christie Bleck)

By CHRISTIE BLECK

Journal Staff Writer

ISHPEMING — Ishpeming High/Middle School, Cliffs Shaft Mine head frames and Congress Lounge & Pizza have a new home across from the school.

Well, at least they do artistically.

Top artwork by students in Ishpeming Public Schools is on display at the new Hematite Art Park, located by the high/middle school.

Principal Seth Hoopingarner said the Marquette County Land Bank Authority was instrumental in the creation of the park.

Authority Chairwoman Anne Giroux said in an email that the authority owns the property and had applied for and received the funding to build the park.

“Once complete, we will transfer it to the school district,” Giroux said.

The authority received funding from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority for the demolition of the two blighted structures on the site.

“We purchased one of the structures and mBank donated the other,” said Giroux, who noted it also received funding from the Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission for two grants and used $7,000 of its own funds to match the grants.

She said donations also have been received from artist Mike Lempinen, UP Fabricating Co./Rick Kauppila, Moyle Trucking & Excavating, OK Rental Sales & Service, and Cattron’s Lumber. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc./LS&I donated and transported all the rail used in the park.

“This is the land bank’s first green space development project,” Giroux said. “We thought it was the perfect opportunity to partner with Ishpeming schools and create a vibrant space where students could highlight their artwork. It is an excellent addition to the Ishpeming community.”

Park installation began this past summer, Hoopingarner said.

“They decided to turn it into a green space, and then kind of from there it turned into green space/art park, with student art being demonstrated out there,” Hoopingarner said.

The fact that students are involved in the project makes it unique.

Hoopingarner said students were asked to turn in art they had created on their own.

“It could be anything,” Hoopingarner said. “It could be photography. It could be drawing. It could be painting.”

Obviously, weather was a factor in displaying the art outdoors.

So, the pieces that were selected were turned into a permanent plastic, he said.

Hematite Art Park is another aesthetic improvement for the city, but it has a scholastic purpose as well.

“Students can present their art, which is great for students to have any experience like that,” Hoopingarner said. “It gives them a lot of confidence to have things permanently displayed.

“It also really kind of improves a lot of communities. There’s been a lot of development like that around the country over the last 20 years where they’re realizing that green spaces and our parks and those kind of things — beautification projects — really help revitalize a community.”

Hoopingarner said the idea is for artwork to be rotated over time, but what pieces are displayed should have a long shelf life because of the permanent plastic.

“They can last for years and years, from what I understand,” he said.

Hoopingarner said the plan also calls for IPS wood shop classes to build benches and possibly a gazebo, which would be placed in the middle of the park.

One component of the art park that really impresses him, though, is that the frame structures on which the art is displayed are made from old railroad ties.

“That’s what I love about this,” Hoopingarner said.

The park includes a photograph by eighth-grader Lilly Swanson, which in a way happened by accident when she and her friends were taking pictures for a school project.

“It was an earlier class, and the sun was just coming up,” Swanson said.

What got their attention was the sunlight coming through a particular third-floor window.

“We thought it would look cool,” she said.

And it did.

Sophomores Dawson Lawry, Taylor Longtine and Abbi Bruhnke worked together on a piece that was used for the back of a 2018 homecoming float.

It’s a conglomeration of notable Ishpeming sites, such as the mine head frames and the football field used by the high schoolers.

Present and past student artwork can be seen at the site, including pieces from Izeah Williams, Hailey Smith, Brooke Johnson, Clara Maki, Sara Harvey and Mariel Morton.

Anyone interested in being a sponsor for the park should contact the Marquette County Land Bank at 906-225-8425.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.