June 22, 2004
For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Pat Stoiber, Director of Marketing and Fund Development
Youth Service Bureau (YSB)
101 South Jefferson Street
Woodstock, IL. 60098
815.338.7360
WHERE: Lakewood Apartment Complex, 2121 Stone Lake Road, Woodstock – by lake next to the rental office
Photo Attached: Left to Right: Lakewood
Resource Center youth work in the summer heat digging and preparing the site
for the functional artwork project: Joseph Ocampo, age 10, Josh Ocampo age
8, Diana Medal age 9, and Artist Steve Wood.
PUBLIC ART WORK SHOWS HOPE
FOR PEACE
The youth that attend the YSB run Lakewood Neighborhood Resource Center have been working for a week with renowned public artist Steve Wood constructing a bench for the Lakewood apartment complex. The bench has been planned and designed by the children and symbolizes peace in words and images that the children have chosen. Steve Wood has led the youth in making their vision come to fruition in this functional piece of artwork. It has been a labor of learning, collaboration, creativity and teamwork.
The project has been made possible because of a $5,000 grant awarded to the McHenry County Latino Coalition from the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority. This enabled the hiring of Steve Wood to lead the project. Local artist Don Hodory of Atlas Art Glass donated time and materials to the project. Melissa Tierney of Red Barn Art School also donated her time and materials to help the children. The children are all served lunch, drinks and snacks daily at the center.
The youth worked hard at planning and constructing the bench using materials and techniques that were patiently taught to them by Steve Wood and other volunteers. There were 11 to12 kids working in teams doing various tasks at the center six to eight hours a day on the project. 20 kids in all worked on the project. One team was digging at the location where the bench will be located. Another team worked on laying mosaic tiles, while another team met with Steve on planning the next steps for the sculpture. A paper model of the bench was used. After each day’s work the children sat and discussed the work they had done that day, and the next days jobs. Carlos Acosta of the Latino Coalition then would discuss the symbols of peace that were being used, what they meant, and where they originated from.
The bench is constructed of concrete, wood, ceramics, and stained glass, The youth learned how to safely use power drills, hammer and nails, jig-saw, tile nipping – and how to lay mosaic tiles. The bench is double sided, and will face the pond on one side and the rental office area on the other. It features a person holding up a stained-glass rainbow with seats on both sides. They also created paver stones leading from the bench to the complex swimming pool. The bench will always be there, reminding the residents of what can be accomplished when a community works together, and that Lakewood is their neighborhood to be proud of.
The Lakewood Apartment Complex used to have a high crime rate, but since the center opened in 2000, it has steadily dropped. According to Woodstock Police Chief Marvin, the crime rate at the apartment complex has dropped 60% since the center opened. The center is the collaborative creation of a group of community agencies, the police department, schools and Mid-America apartment management. The Youth Service Bureau is the lead agency for the center providing management of the center programming. The center provides education, learning, and a sense of community to the children. It operates all year round.
YSB is a not-for-profit organization that has been
providing prevention programs and counseling services to youth and families in
McHenry County since 1975. YSB is located at 101 South Jefferson Street in
Woodstock. For more information visit
the YSB web site at www.ysb4kids.org, or call 815.338.7360.
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