Piece by piece in her spacious Hewitt studio, Amber Fletschock is assembling two art installations to be set up at the Wadena City Library on Aug. 17.
One, to be placed in the children's section of the building, is a four by six foot monochromatic collage made of images collected from books and magazines. As she finds interesting samples, she cuts them out and saves them to put into the larger piece.
"It's meant to be a living environment," said Fletschock. In it, she's trying to incorporate all the seasons as well as everything from galaxies to local flora and fauna. "I hope it inspires kids to read about their environment and want to be in nature."
The other piece she's working on is a three-dimensional book, which is the result of the "Read Share Quote" project that has been ongoing throughout the summer.
Using quotes collected from note cards submitted by area residents, Fletschock selected some to fill the pages of an oversized book that can be viewed from both sides.
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"It's interesting to see what citizens are reading and thinking and what they want to share," she said.
Some of the entries in the piece are in the submitter's own handwriting, adding a personal touch to the project. "If it's not typed, it's actual handwriting," said Fletschock, though she added she did not include the submitters' names in the piece.
She has gotten a wide variety of submissions, though most common are quotes from Dr. Seuss, Harry Potter, and John Green.
"A lot of (the quotes) reflect the life process and what we learn along the way," said Fletschock, noting how impressed she was with the amount of submissions she received (around 150).
Because not every quote could fit on the final installment, Fletschock is compiling all submissions in photo albums available to view at the library.
The installations were made possible through an Art Aware grant awarded by the Wadena City Library and the Kitchigami Regional Library System (KRLS). The program was established by KRLS to celebrate the creative relationship between the public library, its community, and the arts through the installation of site-specific art at each of its branch libraries.
Fletschock also credits Kent Scheer and Vicki Chepulis of Wadena's Green Island as "instrumental in arranging the public engagement part of the project," including the timeline and the window display in the Bernauer Building on Jefferson Ave.
"The administration part was larger than I anticipated," said Fletschock. "But it's been a great learning experience."
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"I would like to express my gratitude to the Wadena City Library for the opportunity and to thank everyone who took the time to contribute to the project," she added.
