The Hawk Moth was commission by MCEP after Kyle Burnett completed Butterfly on Milkweed. MCEP was pleased with his work showing the Pollinator Park up close. The pocket park was named Pollinator Park, and we wanted to include other pollinators as sculptures. The sculptures were great additions, and they also have seats where one can be photographed with each pollinator. MCEP likes the artist’s reuse of materials, bringing to life recycled items.
Stop by our office located at 92 NB Gratiot in Mount Clemens, and pick up a brochure of all our sculptures in the brochure box located on our front porch or at the Bonior Tree or Pollinator Park. There are plenty of sunny, winter days where a walk can be invigorating.
If you want to support our efforts, please send a small tax-deductible contribution to keep the next show going in October 2025 – 2026.
by Israel & Erik Nordin NW Corner of Inches St. and NB Gratiot
The Bee Reader sculpture at the evolving MCEP Pollinator Park was installed in July of 2024. It will be open to extend gifts of small paperback books for young readers and mature readers. Each month the Bee Reader will have two paperback books available. One geared for younger readers and one for mature readers. Please come and check it out. Each month’s selection will be available on the MCEP website with the book’s description. If for some reason the books are not there just call us at 586 783 6008 and we will replenish the stock.
February Bee Reader Books
History of the Civil Rights Movement coloring book, by Steven James Petruccio
Thirty full-page illustrations chronicle key events of one of the twentieth century’s most important social movements. Informative captions accompany the dramatic scenes, from Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation through the movement’s struggles and achievements of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s.
Wit & Wisdom of the American Presidents, a book of quotations, edited by Joslyn Pine
“I know only two tunes,” said Ulysses S. Grant. “One of them is Yankee Doodle and the other isn’t.” Jimmy Carter observed: “Whatever starts in California unfortunately has an inclination to spread.” And Warren Harding complained: “The White House is a prison. I can’t get away from the men who dog my footsteps. I am in jail.”
This entertaining, handy little book includes over 400 other memorable quotes, expressed by America’s chief executives over the past two centuries, among them Chester Arthur’s blunt, “I may be President of the United States, but my private life is nobody’s damn business,” Calvin Coolidge’s terse “The chief business of America is business,” Dwight Eisenhower’s “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from a cornfield,” and George Herbert Walker Bush’s “Read my lips, no new taxes.”
From George Washington to Barack Obama, these presidential declarations will not only provide public speakers and students of American history with a wealth of useful material, they’ll also delight general readers.
This is the first of three sculptures completed by Kyle Burnett for the MCEP Pollinator Park.
The “Butterfly on Milkweed” was created by Kyle Burnett of Battle Creek, Michigan. A young artist, craftsman who divided his time between both pursuits. MCEP found him by viewing his creations at the Sterling Heights Nature Center where they are still on display. MCEP liked his design and asked him for some drawings for a yet to happen Pollinator Park. His work became the first to be displayed in the new pocket park which at the time was only a vacant lot on Northbound Gratiot. The sculpture has an inviting seat to make you a part of the experience. This was the first piece ever commissioned by MCEP. The piece was paid for by MCEP and a grant from Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, now known as Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC). Thanks to Kyle for his work and MACC for their financial help.
Stop by our office located at 92 NB Gratiot in Mount Clemens, and pick up a brochure of all our sculptures in the brochure box located on our front porch or at the Bonior Tree or Pollinator Park. There are plenty of sunny, winter days where a walk can be invigorating.
If you want to support our efforts, please send a small tax-deductible contribution to keep the next show going in October 2025 – 2026.
Location: West side of NB Gratiot Between Kibbee & Roberston
Pamela Reithmeier was born and raised in the Toledo, OH area. She has a Masters in Special Education from The University of Toledo and has retired after teaching for 34 years. Pam started sculpting in 2002. She has won various awards for her artwork. Her sculptures have been on display in galleries and juried shows throughout Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, Indian, and Illinois. In addition, Pam has sculptures in private collections as well as commissioned pieces in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Florida. Pamela uses both salvaged and new materials in her artwork. Pam also taught an Art Welding class at Owens Community College for 4 years. She is currently president of the Toledo Area Sculptures Guild and curator of Sculpture in the Village, Gibsonburg, OH.
I love to see people interact with my sculptures. Whether it is a nod of the head, a smile, or having their picture taken with my pieces; it does not matter as long as there is a connection in some way between the sculpture and the viewer. I have found I am drawn to making sculptures inspired by nature and geometric patterns. I particularly enjoy the permanency and strength of steel and the mental and physical challenges that come with working in this medium.
Stop by our office located at 92 NB Gratiot in Mount Clemens, and pick up a brochure of all our sculptures in the brochure box located on our front porch or at the Bonior Tree or Pollinator Park. There are plenty of sunny, winter days where a walk can be invigorating.
If you want to support our efforts, please send a small tax-deductible contribution to keep the next show going in October 2025 – 2026.
Mike Sohikian, a retired ironworker has been a member of the Bridge and Structural Ironworkers Local 55 for 37 years. He has had a lifetime of love and appreciation for art, but didn’t begin his art career until 1995. Since then, he has garnered acclaim and numerous prestigious awards and recognition for his paintings and sculptures. Sohikian is best known for taking salvaged steel to new heights with impressive and innovative concepts. He assembles industrial materials as well as reworks the materials into fascinating forms.
This sculpture is owned by Greater Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church. May we all try to do better. This is one of the first permanent purchases for the community.
Mike lives in Genoa, OH. Mike has 4 sculptures in our program this year. When we select the sculptures, we do not know who the artist is; just that we like the sculpture.
Stop by our office located at 92 NB Gratiot in Mount Clemens, and pick up a brochure of all our sculptures in the brochure box located on our front porch or at the Bonior Tree or Pollinator Park. There are plenty of sunny, winter days where a walk can be invigorating.
If you want to support our efforts, please send a small tax-deductible contribution to keep the next show going in October 2025 – 2026.
“ I have always had a fascination with buildings and bridges, as well as, the columns, posts, beams and arches that support them. I come to this world from a tradition of craftsmanship. I prefer to use materials that convey strength. I have always felt that good art should be well made and that there is no excuse for poor craftsmanship.
I see each sculpture as a ‘clean sheet of paper’ that presents new opportunities to discover solutions. Beyond content and suitability, my sculpture concentrates on the fundamental issues of form and how negative space defines it, as well as, the techniques employed to create it.”
Stop by our office located at 92 NB Gratiot in Mount Clemens, and pick up a brochure of all our sculptures in the brochure box located on our front porch or at the Bonior Tree or Pollinator Park. There are plenty of sunny, winter days where a walk can be invigorating.
If you want to support our efforts, please send a small tax-deductible contribution to keep the next show going in October 2025 – 2026.
by Israel & Erik Nordin NW Corner of Inches St. and NB Gratiot
The Bee Reader sculpture at the evolving MCEP Pollinator Park was installed in July of 2024. It will be open to extend gifts of small paperback books for young readers and mature readers. Each month the Bee Reader will have two paperback books available. One geared for younger readers and one for mature readers. Please come and check it out. Each month’s selection will be available on the MCEP website with the book’s description. If for some reason the books are not there just call us at 586 783 6008 and we will replenish the stock.
January Bee Reader Books
African Folk Tales, edited by Hugh Vernon-Jackson, Illustrated by Yuko Green
This exciting collection of traditional African folk tales introduces you to a host of interesting people and unusual animals. Eighteen authentic fables, recorded as they were told by tribal members of Nigerian and other cultures, range from the imaginative “Story of a Farmer and Four Hyenas” to an entertaining account of “The Man with Seven Dogs.”
In “The Magic Crocodile,” you’ll meet a reptile with very strange powers, while “The Boy in the Drum” teaches a valuable lesson in the importance of obeying one’s parents. In “The Hare and the Crownbird,” a fine, feathered friend is rewarded for its acts of kindness. You’ll also learn why a ram has a large head and a tortoise a small one in “The Greedy but Cunning Tortoise”; and in “A She-Goat and Her Children,” you’ll discover how a clever animal managed to provide food for her children.
Set in large, easy-to-read type and enhanced with Yuko Green’s 19 lively illustrations, this collection of time-honored folk tales will delight readers of all ages.
Wit & Wisdom of America’s First Ladies, edited by Joslyn Pine
“The one thing I do not want,” quipped Jacqueline Kennedy, “is to be called First Lady. It sounds like a saddle horse.” This lively collection includes more than 350 revealing and thought-provoking remarks by White Housewives, from Martha Washington (“I live a very dull life here, and know nothing that passes in town.”) to Melania Trump (“Together, let’s encourage children to dream big, think big, and do all they can to be best in everything that they do.”)
Humorous and heartfelt reflections include Abigail Adams’s thoughts on partnership (“No man ever prospered in the world without the consent and cooperation of his wife.”); Dolley Madison’s attitude toward gossip (“It is one of my sources of happiness never to desire a knowledge of other people’s business.”); and Eleanor Roosevelt’s comment on accountability (“It is often the people who refuse to assume any responsibility who are apt to be the sharpest critics of those who do.”).
Mike Sohikian, a retired ironworker has been a member of the Bridge and Structural Ironworkers Local 55 for 37 years. He has had a lifetime of love and appreciation for art, but didn’t begin his art career until 1995. Since then, he has garnered acclaim and numerous prestigious awards and recognition for his paintings and sculptures. Sohikian is best known for taking salvaged steel to new heights with impressive and innovative concepts. He assembles industrial materials as well as reworks the materials into fascinating forms.
Mike lives in Genoa, OH. Mike has 4 sculptures in our program this year. When we select the sculptures, we do not know who the artist is.
