New interactive sculpture commissioned for Mundelein park
A large, interactive sculpture of an upturned, oversized hand is coming to Mundelein’s Courtland Commons park.
The village board on Monday voted to hire Kentucky artist Meg White to create the stone piece for the park, which is on the 400 block of East Courtland Street, east of Seymour Avenue. It will cost $18,500, village documents indicate, with the funds coming from the Mundelein Arts Commission.
Tentatively titled “Helping Hand,” the piece will be 6 feet long, nearly 3 feet tall and weigh at least five tons. It will depict a slightly cupped, hand, symbolizing the strength of a community and neighbors helping neighbors, according to documents.
The sculpture will be carved from Indiana limestone. An interactive sculpture already in Courtland Commons, “Earth Flight,” is made from the same material.
The new piece will be more than an object of aesthetic appreciation. Like “Earth Flight,” it will be suitable for seating or climbing.
Production is expected to take between 12 months and 16 months.
Once finished, the piece likely will be placed at the west end of a pollinator garden that’s on the west side of the park. “Earth Flight” is at the east end of the garden.
Still under construction, Courtland Commons is west of a roughly 8-acre human-made pond that was part of a massive flood-control project completed in 2021. The site has become a diverse ecosystem and an attraction for bike riders, runners and recreational walkers.
Public art was part of the plan for the park from its inception.
Mundelein officials long have encouraged and funded public art. In addition to “Earth Flight,” projects have included murals on the side of a Park Street building and at a skate park and a stainless steel flame near Park Street and Seymour Avenue. Installations of painted stars and cows have decorated the village, too.
This won’t be White’s first suburban sculpture installation. The artist also created a piece called “Awaking Muse” that’s outside the Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts in Schaumburg. It consists of several oversized, limestone body parts that together create the illusion of a reclining woman emerging from a small hill.
White’s public artwork also can be found in Florida, Kentucky, Iowa and other states.