BEMIDJI — Nestled in the woods by Spearhead Lake, an eager group of nine students from the Boys and Girls Club kept busy marrying nature with art at the last week.
Made possible by Minnesota voters through a $6,000 grant from the Region 2 Arts Council and legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, youth — ranging from grades three to eight — participated in the Avian Arts Adventure program Aug. 22-26 that will culminate with a new “House of Birds” mural and potential for future programming.
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“This week is meant to see if we can host this kind of programming. Obviously, that’s a ‘yes,’” club staff member and project director Eleva Potter said in reference to the Neilson Spearhead Center, located about 20 minutes southwest of Bemidji. “There’s over 2,000 acres of wilderness, all acreage around Spearhead Lake and a five- to six-mile path going around it. There’s so much beauty here. We just have to get the people out here to see it.”
Deemed the “brainchild” of the project, Potter noted her previous experiences as a camper at the center, operated by the and wanting to offer broader access to art and nature activities for members of the Boys and Girls Club.
“(The Neilson Spearhead Center) hasn’t seen art in years, so it needed a little jazzing up,” Potter added lightheartedly.
Part of bringing her idea to life was recruiting the help of local artist Mary Therese who collaborated with the Boys and Girls Club for art projects in the past.
On the cusp of completing her “Umbrellas of Unity” group show," which will be on display at the Watermark Art Center until Saturday, Oct. 22, Therese jumped at the opportunity when Potter presented her with the idea.
“I come (to the center) often and I felt like they really needed something inside this space to brighten it up and the kids have some ownership in the place since it’s a public park,” Therese mentioned.
Complementing their respective skill sets, Potter took charge of the environmental programming which included leading the students on nature hikes and seeking specific birds that would serve as inspiration for their paintings.
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“Therese would then do all the art stuff. I do not know how to teach that,” Potter said with a laugh.
The creative process
Learning to identify different bird species and developing basic sketches took up the first couple days of camp.
“I had them start with this wonderful book where just seeing the basic shapes could help them learn to build a bird using those shapes while working on their sketchpads,” Therese detailed.
By Wednesday, the students were refining their drawings and transferring them onto wooden panels using carbon paper, after which they could start painting.
In the midst of their painting on Thursday, Therese called the students’ attention to test their knowledge of common bird calls.
With a sound book in hand, Therese pushed a button after asking, “What’s this bird?”
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An eruption of “chickadee” answers flooded the modest confines of the center.
Therese continued, “We all know this one, right?”
A wailing noise from the book led to several “loon” answers almost immediately after.
“Do you remember this one?”
Staccato pecking preceded some exclamations from the students who knew it was a woodpecker.
A less familiar noise played for the final part of the test, though one student eventually answered with “nuthatch.”
Upon completion, all paintings will be secured onto a mural painted by Therese and will take the shape of a birdhouse, which Therese determined by taking into account the shape of a wall meeting the ceiling of the building.
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The individual paintings will be on display temporarily at the Headwaters Science Center this week, then make their way back to the Neilson Spearhead Center where Therese will complete the mural installation in time for an open house event on Sunday, Sept. 18.
The end result is more than the final project for Therese and Potter.
“If we can get more kids out here to embrace nature and take some ownership and stewardship with the land would be awesome,” Therese said. “The connection with getting them out in the woods, out of town, a lot of them don’t do that. Now, they have that opportunity.”
Potter highlighted the potential of offering this experience in the future and growing participation for years to come.
“We’re trying to do some new stuff, some new programming and get more kids out here,” Potter said. “As many people who want to come, we’d love to have them. It seems like a really great start to something new.”
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