Belleville East students collaborate with Milwaukee artist on two sculptures

Artist Marina Lee of Milwaukee is once again creating large, colorful sculptures with Belleville high school students.

You may have seen the fiberglass artwork she previously made with Belleville students, including the oversized bench in front of Governor French Academy at 219 Main St.

“The high school kids respond to the arts so beautifully,” Lee said. “They understand the importance of it in a community.”

Lee collaborated with dozens of Belleville East High School art students this week as part of Art on the Square’s annual High School Sculpture in the City program. The program was founded by Art on the Square in 2011 as way to give students hands-on experience in designing and building community artwork with a professional artist.

The Belleville East students initially settled on the design of two pieces and then got down to building the structures under Lee’s direction. They used plywood, foam and plaster to construct the pieces, which will be covered with fiberglass in Lee’s studio in Wisconsin. Lee will return in April when the students will paint the two pieces, which will be unveiled to the public on the opening night of Art on Square at 7 p.m. Friday, May 13.

Since the sculptures will be placed in Laderman Park off South Belt East, the students considered outdoor themes for the artwork.

One sculpture is known as “The Fish” while the students said the second piece didn’t have an official title but was being called “The Abstract” or “The Other One.”

Senior Isaiah King, who is considering a career in graphic design, developed the fish design. He said his favorite part of the design is the hollowed-out center that is in the shape of a rain drop.

“It symbolizes a rain drop, like water because a fish can’t live without it. It needs it,” King said. “So it's like within him.”

Aidan Skillern and Bailey Cannon, both seniors, worked on the design of the second piece.

“It’s kind of like a tree; then there’s a water drop in the middle,” Skillern said. “And then I wanted to go for a nighttime sort of feel so there’s crescent moons on it too.”

Cannon, who wants to be a free-lance illustrator and plans to attend Southwestern Illinois College, said she enjoyed working with Lee.

“I feel like I was definitely connected with her on the designing part,” Cannon said. She said the themes of “harmony, earth and unity” were on her mind during the design phase.

Lee said this piece with its wide, round design will provide places for kids to climb on or sit on the artwork after it’s placed in Laderman Park.

When finished, the sculptures will weigh about 200 pounds each.

Dede Farquhar, who heads the committee overseeing the Sculpture in the City program for Art on the Square, said Belleville already has more than 40 pieces of public artwork placed throughout the community. She said Art on the Square commissioned Lee to design and build three mushrooms last year and those can now be seen in Bellevue Park.

Visitors to Bellevue Park also can see two columns that Belleville West High School students designed with Lee last year.

Lee said placing the students’ artwork in public places will give the students a connection to Belleville. For example, she said if the students leave the area to go to college, the public artwork would be a reason for the students to return to Belleville after graduating from college.

“They can see that (artwork) and I think that’s pretty neat,” Lee said. “You want them invested in the community.”

Since its inception, the High School Sculpture in the City program has been sponsored by the Belleville law firm Mathis, Marifian & Richter Ltd., which donated $10,000 to Art on the Square this year.

“For us, it’s been kind of good way to give back to the community,” said Pat Mathis, president of the law firm based on the Public Square, where the annual art festival is staged.

“We’ve sponsored a scholarship at the three high schools for many, many years for students who might be interested in going to law school and we’ve always been involved in Art on the Square so we just thought it was good way to meld the two together,” Mathis said.

Mathis praised Lee’s work with Belleville’s schoolchildren.

“She’s a very nice person,” he said. “She seems to love working with the kids and they seem to love working with her.”

This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Belleville East students collaborate with Milwaukee artist on two sculptures."