OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford People look at “Child Nature” after its unveiling at the Dunkirk Public Library.

A new sculpture intended to celebrate and honor children was unveiled recently at the Dunkirk Public Library.

Titled “Child Nature,” the artwork is located on the front lawn of the library. The piece is a collaboration between the CREATE Project and a slew of other organizations. In the brochure for the unveiling, the CREATE Project describes itself as “an arts-based initiative designed to help our community become free of child-trauma, abuse and neglect, and to become a place where children can thrive.”

The sculpture unveiling was done by local children and Girl Scouts performed an interpretative dance afterward. The artwork is inspired by a Mexican folk tale, which another local youth read, in Spanish.

Several speakers, including Dunkirk Mayor Willie Rosas, talked up the virtues of public art, described the collaboration that made “Child Nature” happen and emphasized that children are the future. “Child abuse and child neglect are not tolerated in this community,” Rosas said. “We need to understand this is an issue. We need to deal with this.”

In addition to child advocacy, the sculpture also has an environmental theme. “Designed to inspire youth and adults to care for children and nature, the sculpture also brings attention to conservation of the Chautauqua watershed,” the brochure states.

While the CREATE project designed the artwork, many other organizations helped to get it from a design on a screen to a sculpture in the ground. Here is a list of what they did:

¯ Students from the Dunkirk city school district’s P-Tech College and Career Academy fabricated the armature that acts as the core of the sculpture.

¯ Mudslingers Pottery Studio fabricated and fired the ceramic tires that form the surface of the sculpture.

¯ A. Carapella Masonry put in the concrete sculpture foundation, at the same time they installed new steps for the front door of the library.

¯ City of Dunkirk workers physically installed the sculpture into its foundation.

¯ Hae Jude Custom Signs created signage to go with the sculpture.

¯ Blossom Garden Friends Peace and Education Center, along with the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, did research and brochure contributions.

¯ The Dunkirk Public Library provided the installation site and helped in planning the effort.

¯ The Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation provided financial support through its Environmental Fund.

The sculpture is the first piece in a public art initiative the CREATE Project intends to undertake.