Illuminating a Path
by Michael Kalish
About the Art
Waunakee Community School District is one of the most
celebrated school districts in Wisconsin, consistently ranking in the top tier of Wisconsin schools - year after year, decade after decade.
The Waunakee Area Public Arts Committee (WAPAC) on behalf of the Waunakee Community School District (WCSD) fundraised for the sole purpose of commissioning an artist to design, fabricate, and install a major sculpture or interactive artwork to celebrate teachers, staff, students and excellence in education.
Trains thundering across the golden Wisconsin prairies opened the door for development in Waunakee just after the Civil War. When railroad lines were extended from Madison to St. Paul, entrepreneurs in the area took advantage of the opportunity to establish a local supply center and market for shipping farm produce. That’s when the Waunakee community started to grow. Native American in origin, the name Waunakee (Wanaki) aptly describes the village’s location in the “fair and pleasant valley” just north of Madison.
That valley has seen progress and growth fueled by the desire for families to live in this community. More specifically, many families call Waunakee home because they want to raise their children in a place which values education the way the community has there for generations. Today, more than 100 years after its founding over 13,500 people call Waunakee home. The WCSD encompasses an even larger area, which has a population of 20,000. Being in the greater Madison area has provided location advantages, yet the community has preserved and even enhanced its small town character. In addition, the community is actively pursuing development of a “creative economy” which has opened up opportunities for creative people, groups, and businesses to become involved locally in ways they haven’t before. The community’s figurative embrace of all things
creative has started to produce results in the form of new public art, creative community events, and creative business start-ups. The WAPAC is hopeful this Placemaking Artwork encourages community-wide learning, advances the emerging creative economy, and attracts visitors to Waunakee.
“This artwork has become a gathering place, an outdoor classroom, a backdrop for Senior Photos, a landmark... Thank you to the Waunakee Community School District for your legacy of excellence!”
– The Waunakee Area Public Arts Commission Board of Directors
