City officials welcomed the Leadership Morgan Hill Class of 2013’s class project – a collage of photographs depicting the history, life, culture and “vibrancy” of Morgan Hill.
The public art installation – shaped like El Toro Mountain – now hanging on the lobby wall of the Centennial Recreation Center was donated by the class to the City during a presentation at the CRC Monday night.
Nearly 50 photographs – shot by local photographers and pulled from historical archives – demonstrate the Morgan Hill community’s devotion to children and education, “all-American” festivities such as the annual Fourth of July parade, agricultural and agritourism heritage, outdoor recreation, and local businesses from high-tech to favorite local hangouts, according to LMH class of 2013 members.
“It is a gift to our city, about our city, showing photos everybody can relate to,” LMH 2013 class member Swanee Edwards said.
The piece is titled “The Art of Leadership,” and it took the class about nine months to design the installation and narrow down their choice of photographs from more than 100.
Mayor Steve Tate and Councilwoman Marilyn Librers – both LMH alumni – attended the presentation to eagerly welcome the donation of the public art piece, which may one day grace the walls of a new City Council meeting chamber to be renovated in the future.
“This is public art at its most fantastic,” Tate said. “It’s really special to us to be able to get public art donated.”
The 20 members of the 2013 LMH class worked together in choosing photographs shot by classmates Lori McIntosh, Tony Stafford, Chris Foster, Mary Dokter and Liza Garibaldi, as well as some shot by Times photographer Lora Schraft and Morgan Hill Life Publisher Marty Cheek.
Stafford said in deciding on their favorite Morgan Hill theme to depict in the collage, classmates settled on “all-American city.”
The LMH 2013 class raised about $7,800 for the project, which was more than enough to cover the cost of the production and installation of the art, Edwards said. The remaining funds – including more forthcoming from a still-open raffle for an iPad – will be donated back to LMH, a nonprofit organization.
Pamala Meador, Chair of the City’s Library, Culture and Arts Commission – which is tasked with providing public art guidance to applicants and recommendations to the Council – said the art installation is “beautiful.”
“This really sets the bar for all public art projects going forward,” Meador said.
