St. Joe celebrates 20th anniversary of And You, Seas sculpture installation

 

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. – It’s a celebration twenty years in the making.

“I can’t believe that twenty years has gone by so quickly!” said former Krasl Arts Center curator Susan Wilczak.

Hundreds of community members packed the Shadowland Pavillion at the base of And You, Seas—the colossal, forty-eight foot tall sculpture built on the south pier back in 2002, for music, crafts and fresh made ice cream, courtesy of Fire and Ice.

As well as to learn more about what brought the sculpture to be created—and to honor the artist behind it.

“In the early 2000s, Silver Beach County Park was going through a master plan for its redevelopment and it involved public art,” Wilczak said. “It’s really unprecedented to have a sculpture of this size on a commercial pier, entering a commercial harbor.”

And You, Seas was built to honor the memory of Pat Kinney, a former board president at the Krasl, who spent much of his time on the lake, sailing.

World renowned sculptor Richard Hunt was tasked with creating the piece—a massive stainless steel sculpture that also captured Kinney’s love of the lake.

“It was an honor for our family to work with Richard from idea and design all the way through installation,” said Kinney’s daughter Bean Klusendorf at the ceremony.

Hunt, now in his eighties, came out from Chicago to be there—where he was given a standing ovation for his work, that has not only touched the community, but continues to inspire everyone who approaches it.

“Though it’s been here twenty years, every time you see it, and people have told me this, people see something different in it,” Wilczak said. “Whether or not they’ll see a fish or a person swimming or what have you, there’s always something different. The dialogue has been really incredible and has really brought to light more about the importance of public art within the community.”