Create Community: Spaces for Discovery

Downtown Fennville

A lit, community-built, and student-inspired lighthouse appears downtown Fennville this summer! Three concentric rings of windows will be built on the square plot of open land on Main Street. The wooden windows will be filled partially with colorful plexiglass – but some will remain open when this installation is first erected. Throughout this summer, we will be leading students to work with professional artists to create pieces of art (drawings, paintings, etc) that will then be transferred to windows in the installation. Over time, the installation will transform from a tower of open windows to a stained glass tower of our children’s artwork.

The center of the tower is illuminated at night by lights in the center circle of windows, emphasizing the colorful artwork and the sensation of a lighthouse looking out on the town. The structure invites you to view Fennville, and the artwork of the children, through the windows, highlighting the idea of looking at and seeing our familiar community in a new way, perhaps through the eyes of a child.

Snap a pic and upload it here for a chance to be featured on the SCA Instagram.

Each and every location was dreamed, brainstormed, problem solved, drafted, created, and built with your experience in mind.

1 year of planning | 4 months of building | Countless hours on zoom | A few friendly debates

Every installation in Spaces For Discovery is inspirited by children’s literature, the environment that surrounds it, and the people who interact with it.

Children's Literature Inspiration:

"Maybe Something Beautiful" by F. Isabel Campoy + Theresa Howell

In a town that is dismal and austere, Mira offers her neighbor her joy—art. After Mira hands out some of her paintings, a muralist takes notice of her work. Eventually Mira, the muralist, and the diverse community come together to make their town a beautiful work of art.

The inspiration of this book seeded the ideas for children’s artwork to fill the windows of this structure.

Location Inspiration:

Fennville was named after E.A. Fenn who came to Fennville from New York City in 1853. A miller by trade, Fenn opened a sawmill, originally giving the settlement the name Fenn’s Mill. The name was changed in the late 1800s to Fennville.

On February 20, 1889 Fennville was incorporated as a village. The first village president was a businessman named Frank S. Raymond. He partnered in the hardware business with L.S. Dickinson and also J.E. Hutchinson in both a store and a bank.

Want to get more hands-on with this site? Interested in working directly with the artists? Join us at one of the Quad-Community events happening at the SCA!