Dimondale is installing its first public art piece next summer.
The Dimondale Arts Commission has selected Bridge Between Banks as the village's inaugural art piece.
The sculpture, by St. Johns artist Ivan Iler, is an homage to the city’s past and present architecture and will feature a bridge scene composed of several metal layers. The old iron bridge, since replaced with a modern bridge, is the village's main throroughfare.
Iler, who has created other public art sculptures across the state and whose work was featured on the Netflix series Metal Shop Masters, says the sculpture will have a sense of dynamism.
"The layers are going to stand away from one another," Iler said. "You know, giving it a three-dimensional effect out of two-dimensional pieces. So, as you move past it, it'll give you a sense of moving, you know, past the banks of the river past the trees in the woods, because they'll shift past one another."
Even though Dimondale is just a 15-minute drive from Lansing, many people have not been through it, Arts Commission Chairman Camron Gnass said.
"Our village is, while quaint, it's very inviting to visitors," he said. "And we have a lot of people come through who are surprised at what the village has to offer."
Iler says it means a lot to him to be able to have a hand in creating public art.
"Any public art, it's placemaking," he said. "It gives people a sense of place and even people that are visiting they go, 'Wow, this is a nice place. ...This is a place that cares about you know, artwork in their community.'"
The sculpture will be unveiled in early summer 2022 in the village's pocket park at the corner of South Bridge Street and East Jefferson Avenue.
Funds have already been secured for a second public art piece, Gnass said.