Client: City of Kettering

Overview

Commissioned through the CitySites Public Art Program, Beth Holyoke and Käthi Seidl designed, fabricated and installed a permanent, site-specific artwork at the Habitat Environmental Center, incorporating approximately 120 aluminum tiles created by Kettering City School students. The following thematic concepts were included: nature, sustainability, interactivity and functionality for park visitors.

Goals

The Habitat Environmental Center was built in 2013 through the City of Kettering's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts department, and brings in approximately 6,000 visitors each year to learn about environmental education. The commissioned artwork was designed to reflect the use of the space, and enhance the mission of the facility and surrounding park land.

Process

This project began in 2013, when over 100 students from several Kettering City Schools created images in sandcast molds, incorporating animals, insects and plants. These images were cast in aluminum, creating tiles with three-dimensional reliefs, in a special workshop at Rosewood Arts Centre in Kettering, Ohio. Artists Holyoke and Seidl responded by creating nature inspired ceramic tiles that incorporated the students images, and embedding all into a unified landscape and sitting area.