At the dedication August 23, 2019
I recently installed and participated in the dedication of a public sculpture I’d been working on for about 3 years. The piece, ‘Leslee’s Smile’ , is dedicated to a dear friend and my community’s fearless, kind, incredible library director Leslee Neithammer, who died of cancer a little over 3 years ago.
When I learned she was not going to get better, an idea came to me. ‘Why not propose an abstract sculpture in her honor and show her the maquette and tell her about the piece.’ She loved the idea, as she had wanted to get something more abstract at the library - something to “push folks’ imaginations”, she said. But, since I was on the library’s art committee, that was a conflict of interest. So with little struggle, she brainstormed a solution within minutes, as was her way. The piece was to be installed at Henne Field, here in Saline, along a walking path.
I came up with another idea….why not have Leslee name the piece? But it was not to be. About when she and I were going to meet and have a naming session, she went into hospice. The name ‘Leslee’s Smile’ seemed appropriate, because that was what you noticed first when you met Leslee.
At the Dedication
My intention was that the piece would be joyful - like her. I designed it so that when the sun comes through the glass, the colors cast onto the ground and change as the sun moves through the sky.
When I demonstrated the idea to Leslee, I had a maquette made from laser-cut mat board and colored tissue paper covering the holes. I took a flashlight to her office to show her how it would work. The piece came out exactly how I’d hoped!
