Photo courtesy of Art in Public Places Midwest Sculpture Initiative
Ric Leichliter’s “Promise to Flower” stands on the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Military.
DEARBORN – Twelve sculptures have been placed throughout Dearborn as part of the community’s 2012-2013 Art in Public Places Midwest Sculpture Initiative. Funding for the project is provided by the Dearborn Community Fund and the East and West Dearborn Downtown Development Authorities. Each month a different sculpture and sculptor is highlighted.
“Promise to Flower,” the featured sculpture for August, is the work of Ohio sculptor Ric Leichliter. The steel red-orange piece stands over 9 feet tall on the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Military. It is priced at $18,000.
Leichliter, who lives and works in Sugar Grove earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Siena Heights University in Adrian.
He prefers to gather materials from scrap yards in what, for him, is a “treasure hunt for new art.” Ever aware of today’s “throw away society,” Leichliter has developed an appreciation for found objects of interesting sizes and shapes that can be incorporated in to his sculptures.
Over the past 20 years, he has produced work for both corporate and public use, and his commissioned work is found in private collections throughout the United States. Leichliter’s liturgical pieces can be found in churches in Dallas, Texas; Lyndhurst, Canada; and numerous locations throughout Ohio.
More information about Leichliter can be found on his website, www.ricsart.com.
For more information about public art in Dearborn, contact the Dearborn Community Fund office at 313-943-5478. Callers also can request an “I Spy Dearborn’s Art in Public Places” card that provides pictures and locations for all 12 of the current pieces and two Pockets of Perception Student Design Team sculptures.
Additional information about the 2012-13 Midwest Sculpture Initiative and “Promise to Flower” is available at www.cdtv.pegcentral.com/ or by contacting the Dearborn Community Fund office.