SHINE on you community-made artwork

WAUPACA – A community art project that started in 2022 is now installed at Rotary Riverview Park. It is composed of four heavy-metal panels with a geometric pattern of squares and diamonds and within those shapes are glass tiles made by people ranging from children to older folks. Each glass tile is unique in design and color. The four panels are arranged next to the Waupaca River and as the sun tracks across the sky, sunlight filters through the glass tiles while the steel frame panels blot it out. This was aptly named, the SHINE project.
“One goal was to find a way, though art, to bring the community together. The response from the community was resounding, as each and every workshop was filled, with wait lists of people who wanted to join in, said Marci Reynolds of the Waupaca Community Arts Board. “The beauty of installation day was that as each tile reflects the participants’ individuality, installing them together in the four panels showed our connections in the community. The significance of the light shining through helps us to connect with our place in the universe, and the very physical planting of the panels in Rotary Park reminds us of our place in community, together, on this earth.”
The Arts Board hosted 16 free workshops to build the 8-inch-by-8-inch tiles. They were supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the state of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Meanwhile, when Main Street was getting ripped up to rebuild the downtown area, rails from the old trolley were discovered and Public Works Director Justin Berrens salvaged them.
The old rails were passed onto the Waupaca Foundry to be recycled and melted down to be used in the casting of the panels. The Waupaca Foundry poured molten cast iron into a 3D-printed sand-resin mold in May of 2024 to create the panels. It was an offline pour, meaning it was a one-off specialty project that the Waupaca Foundry adjusted its operations for.
Andy Wanty and Mike Hemmila led a tour of the plant for Arts Board members to observe the red-hot liquid metal, burning at 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit, slide into the voids in the mold like volcano lava.
The glass tiles will shine bright but the cast iron will keep a rusted patina. “In this case, we want the work to rust because the oxidation will be a nice offset against the colors and clarity of the glass,” said Hemmila.