{"id":101532,"date":"2018-04-18T07:53:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T12:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=101532"},"modified":"2018-04-19T07:59:40","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T12:59:40","slug":"wassenberg-holds-ground-sawing-for-art-park-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2018\/04\/18\/wassenberg-holds-ground-sawing-for-art-park-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Wassenberg has Art Park ‘ground-sawing’"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Wassenberg Art Center held a ground-sawing ceremony Tuesday, with a saw breaking concrete that will be removed to make way for the art center\u2019s new Art Park project.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A concrete saw makes the first cut that will remove concrete from behind Wassenberg Art Center to make way for the center’s new Art Park project.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wassenberg Executive Director Hope Wallace first spoke about the impact that the arts have in the United States and locally.<\/p>\n

Noting that the arts currently contribute approximately $780 billion dollars to the U.S. economy, Wallace added: \u201cWhile the arts industry doesn\u2019t normally possess smokestacks, unless you happen to be privy to a wood ceramic firing, the arts are, absolutely, an industry,\u201d she noted. \u201cDifficult to ideate in the transfer of black and white, real-world dollars, the arts can come in at the forefront as economic game changers, or passively follow along and support longevity as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that Wassenberg prefers the \u201cgame changer\u201d role, Wallace said that leveraging the arts is happening at Wassenberg right now with hits new Art Park project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe landscape of this tiny Rust Belt town is rising, due to committed residents, corporations, quiet donors, and an active Main Street program,\u201d she noted. \u201cThis has all happened from the unassuming power of a small community art center.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those attending the ceremony included sponsors of several Art Park features, as well as trustees of The Van Wert County Foundation, which administers Wassenberg finances.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have with us today visionaries who make economic revival through the arts happen,\u201d Wallace added. \u201cThey are the true heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wassenberg director said the art center had received donations as little as $20 and as much as $175,000 for the Art Park project.<\/p>\n

Wallace thanked the Wassenberg staff, the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, Central Mutual Insurance, First Federal Savings & Loan, The Kenn-Feld Group, Alexander & Bebout Construction, Current Energy Solutions, Van Wert County Foundation, the Maumee Watershed Conservancy District, Mike and Joyce Cross, Main Street Van Wert, and the more than 60 area residents for contributing to the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will never be able to thank you in a true sense,\u201d she said. \u201cJust know that you all are community spirit, and it wouldn\u2019t have happened without you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wassenberg Art Park project will feature the following:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • A large circular green entitled \u201cCentral Park\u201d, which was funded by Central Mutual Insurance.<\/li>\n
  • A re-purposed agricultural grain bin will be turned into a concession stand with circular glow-in-the-dark serving counters. The grain bin renovation is being supported by The Kenn-Feld Group of Van Wert.<\/li>\n
  • First Federal Savings & Loan will fund a 15-foot high sculptural shade structure that will support a flowering vine and be up lit with color changing LED lights.<\/li>\n
  • A life-size sculpture of a raccoon by Detroit artist David Tonnegato has been installed on the railing of the adjacent footbridge.\u00a0Bandit the Thieving Raccoon\u00a0was purchased for the Art Park by Michael and Joyce Cross of Van Wert.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor Wassenberg Art Center held a ground-sawing ceremony Tuesday, with a saw breaking concrete that will be removed to make way for the art center\u2019s new Art Park project. Wassenberg Executive Director Hope Wallace first spoke about the impact that the arts have in the United States and locally. Noting that the arts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 03:50:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101532\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}