Pathway to Renewal Dedication at TimberTown July 19

Celebrate the Pathway to Renewal mosaic’s restoration July 19 at TimberTown Park with art activities, refreshments, and a tribute to Chelsea’s public art legacy.

Photo: Before and after photos of the butterfly on The Pathway to Renewal. Courtesy of Chelsea Parks & Rec

TimberTown Reimagined is in the home stretch. With the pickleball courts and the play structure built in 2024, one of the last three remaining components — the Pathway to Renewal— is now nearing completion with a celebration planned for Saturday, July 19, at 9:30 a.m.

Free coloring books featuring scenes from the mosaic to the first 100 guests. Activities include painting a river stone, refreshments, and meeting the lead artists.

In 2003, the Chelsea community came together to create one of the first pieces of public art in the city, the Pathway to Renewal. Located on the north end of TimberTown Park, the shell-shaped mosaic was designed by Lorin Kummer and the Chelsea Center for the Arts in response to a series of tragic losses that shook the Chelsea community in 2000. Its peaceful, natural beauty has been a source of healing, grace and reflection for over 20 years.

But the years of weather and vandalism were hard on the glass mosaic. Many of the key pieces featuring Michigan flora and fauna were heavily damaged, with drainage from the muddy TimberTown parking lot also impacting the art piece.

A subcommittee of the TimberTown Reimagined committee began meeting in 2022 to decide what could be done to “renew” the mosaic. A final plan was adopted last fall and includes repairing and conserving the mosaic, a three-piece steel vertical art installation, a new small pavilion, and informational signs that tell the mosaic’s story.

“It was a complex project,” said Shawn Personke, Chair of the City of Chelsea Parks and Rec and Co-Chair of the TimberTown Reimagined steering committee. “We wanted to honor original artist Lorin Kummer’s vision, but we also had to figure out how and what we could do within the constraints of budget, manpower, and expertise.”

Throughout the discussions, the committee knew that it was important to keep the original project’s themes — hope, healing and renewal — at the forefront of the planning.

One of the problems that contributed to the mosaics decay was its isolated and its low sloping location. This was addressed by the TimberTown Reimagined infrastructure project that added retention ponds, a paved lot, and curbing.

Another challenge was finding someone who could lay the replacement tiles that stained glass artisan Bill Darwin created.  That person was Howell-based artist Laura Cleo Sedoryk.

“We really needed someone who had the expertise and the passion to do the repair work. We were thrilled – and relieved – when Cleo joined the team.”  Sedoryk also contributed some of her own mosaic work to complete many of the leaves featured along the pathway, Personke added.

“So many people didn’t even know about this jewel,” Personke said of the mosaic set in the northwest corner of TimberTown Park. “We realized that not only did we need to repair the mosaic, but we needed to elevate its profile within the park.”

Thanks to grants from the Michigan Arts & Culture Council and the 5 Healthy Towns Foundation, the new vertical art installations, created by steel artist Vince Walz, will help draw in park visitors, as will the new pavilion that has been built over the sitting wall.

Three art workshops were also held at the Chelsea District Library last winter.

Eli Zemper, owner of Curiouser Clay, and Kelly Barkley, owner of Lakeside Glass, stepped up to run clay and fused glass tile workshops. During each workshop, community members considered the themes of hope, healing, and renewal as they created their tile design.

The tiles were then installed onto the borders of two of Walz’ steel art panels, while the center panel’s border was designed by Marilyn Kuehl. It features native Michigan leaves, the word “Renewal,” surrounding a tree crafted by Walz.

The third workshop gave community members the opportunity to create a linen pennant, again using the mosaic’s themes. These are strung in many downtown businesses this summer and others will be placed at the new pavilion.

Additional committee members and artists were Penny Olsen, Laura Cleo Sedoryk, Shawn Personke, Kathy Gunderson, Joe Kummer, Rick Frankhart, Brian McLaughlin, Sarah Brigham, Derik Bollinger, Kate Mehuron, Susan Whitelaw, Lois DeLeon, Shirley Kaemming.

In addition to support from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, other organizations provided financial and in-kind support. Those include the 5 Healthy Towns Foundation, City of Chelsea, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Erica Knopper Origami Peace Foundation, Chelsea District Library, Chelsea Senior Center, Chelsea Area Friends for Recreation, Fendt Builder’s Supplies, Jacob Scott – Alternative Paving Systems, and donations from community members.