Creative 360 Hosts Opening for The Key House Public Art Project

The Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum is partnering with Creative 360 to celebrate a new public art project in Midland. A dedication is scheduled for Wednesday August 10, from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the Creative 360 Stage, Studio and Galleries in Midland.

The sculpture, by Midland-based artist Annie Stout, is part of the “NEA Big Read: Great Lakes Bay Region” initiative and will be permanently installed at Creative 360. The public art installment is is part of a ten-month long initiative centered on the book “The House on Mango Street” by Hispanic author Sandra Cisneros. The book’s themes, particularly “neighbors and “neighborhoods” were also the basis for three community artmaking projects throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region.

For the Midland piece, artist Annie Stout created a steel house frame that has two open ends for visitors to walk through and two sides and a roof where keys can be hung.

“The house structure is representative of the community as a whole,” Annie Stout said. “I want to invite the community to help complete the sculpture by adding keys all over the walls. The keys represent the individuals in our community with open hearts, minds, and doors, which is how we can make real connections and strengthen relationships with our neighbors.”

Midland-based Artist Annie Stout adding keys to the sculpture she built. (source: Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum)

Community members are invited to join the opening celebration and add their own key, or one of the collected keys, to the artwork. Light refreshments will be provided.

source: Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum

Funding for this portion of the “NEA Big Read: Great Lakes Bay Region” comes from, the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read program in partnership with Arts Midwest, the Hemlock Semiconductor Community and Regional Empowerment Fund, the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, and the Midland Area Community Foundation who provides philanthropic leadership to strengthen our community by fostering collaboration and giving today and in the future.

For more information about the initiative visit the project’s website at: http://www.marshallfredericks.net/bigread