Dragonfly sculpture lands in Tucker Park

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — The newest piece of art for the Harrison Township public has arrived, taking the form of a dragonfly and landing in Tucker Park.

Known by the name “Jewel” and located between the senior center and the Clinton River Spillway trail, the sculpture is the latest collaboration between the Harrison Township Beautification Commission and sculptor brothers Erik and Israel Nordin. A ceremony unveiling the sculpture took place on Aug. 16.

“It went very well,” Sue Keehn, Harrison Township Beautification Commission chair, said of the unveiling. “Nicely received by our community and nicely supported as well.”

“Jewel” serves as a representation of Harrison Township’s resilience and love of the water.

“Water for us is huge here,” Keehn said. “We are Boat Town, and we also are very fond of our Great Lakes, our rivers, our spillway right by Tucker Park, and it seemed the perfect spot to put some part of nature that was representative of our water quality and our adaptability and resilience. When we think of a dragonfly symbolically, that’s what they stand for. This particular one we named ‘Jewel’ because Harrison Township is our coastal jewel.”

Erik and Israel Nordin employed various steels and blown glass to construct the dragonfly and the cattails it sits on. Left unpainted, Erik says the finished sculpture will retain a “classic” look for decades to come.

“We want to create our pieces to last a long, long time and we have found that steel — which is carbon steel, a standard steel — and stainless-steel act well together, as the carbon steel will oxidize a little bit and get very nature-esq,” Erik said. “It will have browns and amber colors in it that marry with the landscape around it, and then the stainless steel will remain that beautiful silver color. It really plays well with the sky and offers a contrast to nature … It allows the sculpture to simultaneously blend with the landscape but also contrast with it in a beautiful way.”

Though attached to the project since it was first proposed, Keehn was stunned when the sculpture was put into place ahead of the unveiling.

“My reaction is that it’s incredible,” Keehn said. “I am so blessed to have met the Nordins when I did 13 years ago. Our community partnering with them was the best thing that we could’ve done. They understand community refurbishment, they understand telling a story and they know how to unify people.”

The beautification commission’s sculpture program has gone on for over a decade with the Nordin Brothers providing the majority of the sculptures. Of the seven sculptures created for the program, six have been from the brothers’ Detroit Design Center while one has been from local artist Curt Winnega. Winnega’s sculpture “Young and Hungry” can also be found at Tucker Park.

“What keeps us coming back to Harrison Township is 100% the people,” Erik Nordin said. “That’s the people from the community, that’s the people that work on the beautification committee, that is the (township) folks that we work with and everybody is so supportive of creativity and supportive and proud of their community and the township … The people in Harrison Township are amazing and we feel very blessed to be able to work with the township and these people, because they make it so fun. They offer different things we need to consider when creating pieces that could be considered challenges, but for us that’s the fun part of trying to come up with something that really resonates with the community. The people in Harrison Township are the reason why we have a lasting relationship and really truly love working with them.”

Erik Nordin says the brothers and the Beautification Commission have plans to work on other sculptures in the future.

More information about the commission and its sculpture program can be found at harrisontownshipmi.gov under the “Boards and Commissions” tab.