Tecumseh High School Sculpture Garden Phase 3 complete
TECUMSEH — The Tecumseh High School Sculpture Garden is almost complete.
“It’s about done; however, it’s never finished. That’s the way we look at it. It’s ever evolving, and it will change as different groups of students come in and we get different teachers,” Tecumseh High School art teacher Christine Obeid said. “But our basic original plans, we had Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3. We’ve just now finished Phase 3, which is seating walls that create an amphitheater, and we are thrilled with the way they turned out.”
Phase 1 was to build the sidewalks and get things started. Phase 2 was planting trees and a flower garden and installing a few sculptures, and then Phase 3 was building the seating walls and a stage so that there can be shows, classes and even weddings in the sculpture garden, Obeid said.
The sculpture garden is on the east side of the building.
Obeid and fellow Tecumseh art teacher Jackie Whiteley as well as retired art teacher Ron Frenzen are ecstatic over the results of a very generous donation from someone who wants to remain anonymous.
They were stalled at Phase II in the summer, not knowing where the funds would come from to complete the third phase.
Someone came through and donated $30,000 to have the seating walls put in, moving the project forward into Phase 3.
In fact, all the work has been done through grants or donations. Obeid, Whiteley and Frenzen have been working on the project for 10 years now.
“We started with a $10,000 grant from (the Stubnitz Foundation), and then we got a $10,000 grant from the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation, and then from then on, it’s been all donations. There has been no district spending. It’s been all donations. So we feel really proud of our community coming forward and supporting the arts,” Obeid said.
The garden has seen concerts from the high school choir and jazz band so far and new sculptures are being added all the time.
“The three of us have just worked tirelessly over the last 10 years to create this multipurpose art space,” Obeid said. “So we just want to see it evolve in a natural way and for people to use the space to encourage the arts.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Tecumseh High School Sculpture Garden Phase 3 complete
