Heart of Wisconsin
Business & Economic Alliance and
Community Foundation of
South Wood County
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A Joint Initiative Between Heart of Wisconsin Business & Economic Alliance and Community Foundation of South Wood County |
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Breaking News January 22, 2007 - Cranes take colorful flight over Grand Avenue By Marion Ruelle, for the Daily Tribune WISCONSIN RAPIDS -- In just a few weeks, you will see a new and strange sight. You will see 26 cranes flying on banners that are vibrant red shading to yellow, flying in the wind all along Grand Avenue from Jackson Avenue to City Hall, past McMillan Library to Eighth Street. They will say, "Welcome!...Our Grand Downtown." Joy Ann Hendricksen, chairwoman of this new banner project, says, "I see these banners as a visual path, leading all residents and visitors through our Grand downtown. This is a great new addition to our original project of historic murals." These 26 crane banners debut on Feb. 3 and will add excitement to the second annual Snow Sculpture Spectacular at Veterans Park taking place that same day. Why the crane as a symbol? The word "cranberry" is derived from the original German name, "craneberry," so named because the cranberry blossom uncannily resembles the head of a crane. The colors range from the deep cranberry red of night to the soft gold of sunset. The design is a new representation of the branding logo now chosen as our regional branding signature for the Wisconsin Rapids area -- which used our art competition winner entries as its inspiration. Two years ago, the Public Art Group started planning the banners. A lot of the work had been accomplished when the project temporarily was shelved. They had approached the Art Club at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, held background meetings, decided on the sand hill crane theme, as it is indigenous to our area, and held a competition. Lisa Lakotas and Kristen Russell were judged the winners. Dawn Olson, Art Images, subsequently adapted the winning entries to a vertical banner format. Founded in 2004 as a subcommittee of the Downtown Cluster, the Public Art Group recently joined the new Arts & Heritage Cluster, part of the Community Progress Initiative. The other committee members are Vickie Lock, Dawn Olson, Mary Olson and myself. The Community Foundation of South Wood County funded the project, and the banners were purchased locally. We hope you will enjoy the cranes flying over Grand Avenue. Marion Ruelle is a committee member of the Public Art Group, a subcommittee of the Downtown Cluster. |
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