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Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, 2023 and before…
By Kiersten Dahl-Shetka
Artist Kiersten Dahl-Shetka envisioned the Towering to Our Future project and brought it to fruition. She says, “With God’s inspiration, and a whole group of dedicated, generous, and talented people and companies, this project was able to leave the drawing table and be created! The Tower has two time frames. The first Tower from 2009 to 2022 and the second Tower from 2023-Present. In the fall of 2022, the Tower was taken down after being in Philipps Park for over 13 years. Over the next year and a half, many things came together to have the second Tower find its home at the New Prague Public Library. Kiersten Dahl-Shetka said, “It had to be rebuilt, and restored in order to relocate it and we had no funds yet to do it.” She adds, “The whole journey has been like the story of life; down and up, times of support and struggle, failures and joys. And in the end, all of the labor of love that I put into this Tower, became Joy!”
Kiersten hopes that the sculpture in its new home brings self-contemplation, community discussion, celebration, happiness, and fun; and sparks creativity into the community to birth new ideas about what we love about our lives and community. “What we think in our minds, and say with our mouths, is ultimately where we will go in our lives!“
Steve Bruchman, New Prague Area Community Education Director, 2008, asked Kiersten to apply for a community grant to make an outdoor sculpture. So, being a sculptor, she did. She drew a picture of a Tower with 44 bronze plaques on it (11 on each side). Each side would be a different generation and each generation would create a bronze (11”x18.5”) visual narrative about what they loved about their life and their community. The South would be the Teenagers, the West would be the Adults, the North would be the Elders, and the East would be the youngest folks. This project was selected for the grant.
The next New Prague Area Community Education director to work on this project with Kiersten was Amy Eich. She wrote many grants to help this project come to fruition and was a masterful supporter of the arts and education in the community of New Prague. All of the bronze plaque classes happened during Amy Eich’s time in New Prague and she and Kiersten wrote many grants to help fund the classes that took place for 44 people who signed up through New Prague Community Education.
The third Community Director that Kiersten was blessed to work with was Janelle Kirsch. She too helped this project continue to its final location by working on a grant with Kiersten after Janelle retired. That was the Minnesota State Arts Board grant that Kiersten Received for 2023.
The City of New Prague has been an accepting supporter of this project. Ken Ondich was the first city employee that Kiersten worked with. Then Mike Johnson- the city administrator helped find the first spot in Philipps Park (2009). Kiersten chose the spot in Philipps Park because a dotted line indicated that a walking path was designed to go through the town connecting the East to the West side of town and ultimately the elementary school. The Tower went up in 2009 and a walking path soon followed with a grant! The Tower was taken down in 2022 with the idea of community members and the parks board to move it to a new location.
Kyra Chapman (2023) was the next city employee with whom Kiersten got to work directly. Kyra had just started working for the City of New Prague in 2022 and she was in charge of writing grants. She and Kiersten wrote a grant to rebuild and relocate the Tower. They received the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council grant in 2022 for the 2023 year.
These grants allowed Kiersten the opportunity to rebuild, restore, and relocate the Tower and move it to the New Prague Public Library’s front lawn, on 400 Main Street East, New Prague, Minnesota, HOME!
The first Tower armature was designed and built with Scott Equipment Company. Kiersten Dahl-Shetka, in 2009, sought the expertise of Scott Equipment’s Team members who included: Ron Simon, Glen Jeurissen- CAD drawing, Bob Church-welding, and Richard Lucas- who supported and welcomed the idea!
(Directors) Steve Brookman, Amy Eich, Janelle Kirsch, and Sandy Loxton.
Each Director helped in many ways as already mentioned. The classes for the bronze were through New Prague Area Community Education brochures like the one below. This one with the Tower on it was created by Amy Eich in 2014.
Kiersten taught 6 group classes through Community Education and a few individuals through the studio Heart Park Studio Art (2010-2017). Stanley Shetka and Kiersten Dahl-Shetka collaborated on the project during bronze pours with the help of their boys Cairo Shetka and Sagan Shetka 2009-2017.
Amy Eich wrote a grant with Kiersten and one grant was awarded for Artist Kiersten Dahl-Shetka to work with Lori Creighton who collaborated with Dahl-Shetka to create the videos on the project. There are eleven videos, two with the Tweens, Teens, and Adults classes and eight videos creating a series for the entire “creating and bronze casting process” with Kiersten Dahl-Shetka and the Elders. Many of the Tweens, Teens, and Adults who already did this process and made a bronze plaque came to help the Elders as “Mighty Helpers.” All of these groups working together with the Elders’ community was the crowning jewel of this project for Kiersten! You can see these in the “Video” section of the website.
Mike Johnson, Dennis Seurer, Ken Ondich, and Bruce Reimers of the City of New Prague identified a site and coordinated the pouring of the concrete footings in Philipps Park. Bob Hrabe and Jeff Smith used a crane to place and attach the tower.
Kiersten Dahl Shetka at her studio, Heart Park Studio Art, designed and created the New Prague Lion from the city logo, bronze cast it, and gold leafed in areas on it. Stanley Shetka, Collateral Healing, Inc. created the roof cap and the recycled plastic panels out of old playground equipment.
In 2023 the Minnesota State Arts Board grant helped Kiersten be able to organize the information on a website created by Greg Lee. Webicine made the QR code design that Kiersten had dreamed of for the viewers of the Tower to use and see who made the bronze plaques and what was their inspiration. Greg’s company is Webicine (greg@webicine.com).
A sign was created as part of Kiersten’s vision for Towering to Our Future rebuild, 2023! Carrie Reisgraph-Bruder, CRB Photography, has been Kiersten’s and the Tower’s photographer since 2010. Carrie, along with her daughters, Sophia and Kaitlin Bruder, and Carol Hannon-Orr, took Kiersten’s idea and together came up with an amazing sign! Carrie created the sign from the wealth of photos that she had painstakingly organized for the project throughout the years.
Carol Hannon-Orr (Artist), Carrie Riesgraph-Bruder, and Kiersten Dahl-Shetka, at Heart Park Studio Art, planning a sign for the Tower! Carrie Reisgraph-Bruder worked on the sign at one of her companies, CRB Photography, in New Prague, MN. Kaitlin Bruder is a freelance illustrator, designer, and performer doing graphic design for games, audio dramas (Thin Space Radio), and individuals. This Project took months and Kiersten said, “I am forever grateful for the MIGHTY & TALENTED COMPANIONS I work with!”
The second Tower was built with the help of Chart Industries (2022-23). Joe Brinkman- VP and CFO, Andrew Maruska-engineer, Joe Flicek- machinist, Bill Lange- lead fabricator, Tony Willis fabricator, Aaron Simon- labor coordinator, Jeremy Wegener- paint procurement, Tyler Smisek- painter. The second tower is stainless steel and that will help this Tower not rust.
Kyra Chapman wrote a Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Board Grant with Kiersten and we received it! Ken Ondich and Joshua Tetzlaff were behind the scenes. Ken Zewber and crew organized and poured the footing and moved the Tower’s armature. Matt Rynda- organized events and got the pavers in, Bruce Reimers helped organize events, Cory Hietz was the crane man, and Curt Novotny worked on the lighting fixture.
Kiersten Dahl-Shetka, Cory Heitz the Crane Man!
Anthony Anderson from the City of New Prague, Master Paver, paved around the Tower, August 18, 2023.
City of New Prague, Collateral Healing, Inc., Stanley Shetka, Heart Park Studio Art, Kiersten Dahl-Shetka, New Prague Area Arts Council: Den Gardner, Steve Frost, Carol Hannon Orr, Sandi Loxton, Kiersten Dahl-Shetka, New Prague Library- Lori Weldon, New Prague Area Community Education- Sandi Loxton
New Prague Area Arts Council (2023), The Minnesota State Arts Board (2023) Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council The Clean Water Land and Legacy Act (2023)
Each person who took the class would create a concept idea about what they loved about their life. The Adults added what they wanted in their life and the Elders were questioned about their lives, “Tell us about your life.” Kiersten would ask them, Tell me three things that you love about your life.
The steps of the bronze casting are as follows:
*Then they would make a mold from that bas relief, and make a wax of that mold (now it is the same shape as the first plasticine object made, but now in wax).
*Add wax-weld- wax sprues, vents, and a pour cup (wax artery and vein system to the wax model, and a cup to pour bronze the system), Wax plaque and wax plaque with sprue and vents, and a pour cup. One side invested with plaster, grog, and silica.
*Surround it all in a mix of plaster, grog, and silica sand- called investment.
*Wrap chicken wire around it, add more investment
*Burn it out in a kiln until the wax melts out and it is a hollow form inside
*Bury it in a sandpit with the pour cup up, heat up the bronze in a forge to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, and pout the buried investments that now have the hollow filled with bronze
*Dig out the poured investments, and chop out the bronze with bronze sprues and vents
*Put in water “bronze-baptize” (still 500 degrees), clean off the investment, cut off the sprues, vents, and the pour cup, and clean up any flashing on the bronze plaque.
*The last steps are to acid bath it, patina it, and gold leaf it
*Then the plaque can go on a stainless steel backing and slide on one side of the Tower! That’s All!
Father’s Day 2013 and 2023!
Kiersten is a mom of two boys Cairo Shetka, and Sagan Shetka, a teacher to many students, and the wife to Stanley Shetka. Stanley is a Full Professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in the Art and Sculpture Department. Cairo and Sagan started working on the Towering to Our Future project with Kiersten when they were 10 and 8 respectively. They also helped with every bronze pour and most classes. Now both boys have graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College as fourth-generation graduates – Go Gusties! Cairo with a Biology Major, now working on going to Medical School and Sagan is a Physics Major thinking about engineering school.
Kiersten is a third-generation graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College with a triple major in Biology and Art (1990), and Art Education K-12 (2014). She continued her education at the University of North Dakota where she received her Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture with an emphasis in Painting and Art History(1994), along with a head docent-ship status from the North Dakota Museum of Art, and teaching college classes; beginning drawing and advanced figure drawing at UND. Kiersten has been teaching art classes to elementary, middle school, high school, college, and beyond since she was a teenager. In college, she helped teach formal summer art camps for 3 years. She was the art teacher at Holy Cross Catholic School K-8 for 10 years. Kiersten is currently an art, science, and wellness teacher in Henderson, MN, at the Minnesota New Country School, elementary K-6, from 2014 to the Present.
Kiersten has been part of the New Prague community since 1998 and joined the New Prague Area Arts Council. Along with being a community artist, sculptor, teacher, and family woman, Kiersten has been a forgiveness facilitator since 2012 with the Midwest Institute for Forgiveness Training and teaches art and forgiveness in her working art studio, Heart Park Studio Art, The Art of Healing the Heart.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Kiersten Dahl-Shetka is a fiscal year 2023 recipient of a Creative Support for individuals grant from the Minnesota States Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
This Project made possible, in part, by the funds Appropriated by the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council through a grant from the McKnight Foundation and appropriation by the Minnesota Legislature.
This activity was funded in part, by the appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s General Fund, and its arts and cultural heritage fund that was created by a vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
