By Eileen Persike
MMC Staff
RHINELANDER – There is a new public art piece in Rhinelander.
On display in the Hodag Park beach house, this sculpture – like many works of art, has a story behind it.
More than two years ago, skateboard enthusiasts part of a group called OverIt! approached the Rhinelander City Council after the death of a friend. This started a community collaboration that included ArtStart, community health advocates and the city government.
“This group came together… and turned what could have been a negative situation into a real positive situation,” said Witt Siasoco, an artist from Minnesota who has been working with OverIt! “There came a realization that there are sports and there are people who like skateboarding – they’re not polar opposites, but a lot of times people who don’t sign up for organized sports don’t have a place to be, they aren’t seen in their own community, and so it all began there.”
When Rhinelander was announced as one of 18 cities in the nation to participate in the national arts and wellness campaign called Arts For Every Body, the decision was made.
“In Rhinelander, the focus has been on social isolation and how bringing people together around art-making supports community building,” said Ashley McLaughlin, Program and Operations Director at ArtStart. “Merging (the efforts by the youth in our community) with Arts For Every Body has been a great way to draw connections between art and health and what can happen when our community comes together.”
The sculpture, “Together,” is a bench designed with the idea of bringing people together to a place of remembrance and contemplation.
“We did workshops with some youth and some elders and different people in the community, and our big question was, ‘What do you need to say to someone you’ve lost connection with?’ We kind of let people boil that down into something – a three or four word phrase,” said Norma Dycus Pennycuff, an artist who worked on the Arts For Everybody project. “The voices of Rhinelander are recognized and represented in this piece. When you sit on the bench, you’re hearing the voices of local people saying the phrases they wrote.”
The voices are heard through bone conduction, or hearing through touch. It is similar to Air Pod technology, Siasoco said, in that it vibrates the skull. There are four points on the bench where a visitor can lean back, rest their head and cup their ears to listen to community members answer Dycus’s question.
“I think a part of art making is really making it memorable,” Siasoco said. “It was important to make a spectacle; you’ll see the shiny disco ball all over the ceiling – but really it’s a place to come together and meet new people. And hopefully the conversation will spark conversation with a stranger, and you meet somebody new in the community.”
The sculpture was unveiled at the city’s first Arts and Health Day on Saturday, July 27 at Hodag Park, during an event called “Push Against Loneliness.”
“Being here today means you’re part of something big and bold,” McLaughlin told those in attendance.
Similar events were being held the same day at the other 17 Arts For Every Body participating communities.
Carrie Mikalauski, a city council member who has been involved in the project, thanked people on behalf of the city.
“This has been a tremendous opportunity for us, and the fact that Rhinelander was chosen to be one of 18 cities throughout the nation – it says something for our little town,” Mikalauski said. The project is not complete, however, as fundraising continues to build a permanent skate park at Hodag Park, near the beach house, along Boom Lake.