by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
It’s been a long time coming, but – as they say – good things come to those who wait.
The Mill Art Project sculptures have finally been installed in two Sartell parks, Watab and Val Smith, as well as one sculpture at city hall that was installed weeks ago – a bicycle rack.
Five of the other massive works were placed on cement footings Oct. 6 in the two parks. Another will soon be installed in Veterans Park, just across the street from Watab.
The concept for the Mill Art Project began two years ago and got underway about a year ago when a group of people decided to memorialize the Sartell paper mill through works of public functional art, using cast-off pieces from the demolition process at the mill. Three years ago, after an explosion and fire killed one worker, the plant’s owners decided to shut it down for good. The mill had operated virtually non-stop for more than 100 years in Sartell.
Heidi Jeub, a former Sartell resident and now an artist who lives in Little Falls, was named director of the art project, along with Joe Schulte, an industrial arts teacher at Sartell High School. They enlisted the help of other local artists, all of whom did research on the mill’s history, then toured the demolition site to look for interesting pieces to use in their sculptures: sheet metal, gears, chains, rollers and so forth. Then, they let their imaginations run wild and began to sketch out design concepts. From the very beginning, the works were a combination of art and functionality, requiring skills that combine aesthetics and technological skills such as welding.
The results, as “unveiled” Oct. 6, are stunning large-scale works – bike racks and benches, as well as a couple of sculptures that complement sitting areas in the parks.
The artists are Jeub, Schulte, Kyle Fokken of Minneapolis, Joshua Fay and Jake Smith, both of St. Cloud and Chris Zlatic of Rice. Northside Welding of Sauk Rapids did the heavy-duty installation work.
A formal dedication for all of the sculptures will be announced later.
For a glimpse of the works, see photos that accompany this story – or better yet, go to Watab and Val Smith parks and see them up close and “in person.”
A worker from Northside Welding, Sauk Rapids, makes an adjustment to one piece of Chris Zlatic’s sculpture in Watab Park. At right is sculptor Kyle Fokken of Minneapolis, whose bench sculpture was slated to be installed later.
Artist/sculptor Chris Zlatic of Rice stands beside a piece of one of his Mill Project works. He used two giant end caps to a paper-mill dryer. They will be illuminated at night by a string of blue LED lights that will be installed in a channel on both caps. Between the caps will be an area with chairs or benches. This sculpture is located in Watab Park. The end-caps were manufactured by the Beloit Co. in 1980.
A worker checks part of a sculpture by Chris Zlatic of Rice. The name of the work is “Absence.”
Some of the Mill Art Project artists gathered to converse at Watab Park during the installation of sculptures. From left to right are Chris Zlatic of Rice, Joe Schulte of Sartell, Kyle Fokken of Minneapolis, a man from a local radio station and Heidi Jeub of Little Falls, an artist and coordinator (with Schulte) of the Mill Art Project.
A bench sculpture, entitled “Flow My Tears, the Millman Said,” was made by Jake Smith and Joshua Fay. The bench is made of gears, chains and brushed steel.
This is a close-up of the bike rack created by artist Heidi Jeub of Little Falls.
Jake Smith, sculptor, takes a break on a bench sculpture made by him and sculptor Joshua Fay. The surrealistic bench, made of gears, chains and brushed steel, is entitled “Flow My Tears, the Millman Said.”
Heide Jeub on the bike rack she made from a giant tank she found among the demolition junk at the Verso Paper Mill. Jeub was the coordinator for the Mill Art Project.
