Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette Commissioned artist Kasey Koski gives spectators an explanation of each sculpture at an unveiling ceremony at the Quincy Mine. This particular sculpture represents the families of miners employed at Quincy.

HANCOCK — Four two-dimension metal sculptures were unveiled alongside the Dry House ruins across from Quincy Mine in an effort to “repopulate” the historical aspect of Copper Country on Thursday morning.

The sculptures depict miners and their family members from the mining era of the region to provide their presence to the Quincy Mine and its surrounding area. The project was taken up by Keweenaw National Historical Park commissioned artist from Wenatchee, Washington, Kasey Koski.

Koski had seen the post made by the KNHP during the winter searching for an artist to commission a piece presenting the human aspect of Quincy Mine, and four days before the deadline, Koski submitted her idea. After an interview with the park service, she had obtained the honor of crafting the four sculptures.

Though Koski now lives in Washington, she was born and grew up in the Upper Peninsula around Aura in Baraga County. Her great-grandparents emigrated to the Houghton area but left after the violence affiliated with the miners’ strike. They moved to the Aura area where the family had maintained itself for the next few generations embracing the outdoor lifestyle and passing down the activities to each generation.

Koski’s father owned Indian Country Sports in L’Anse for 40 years and the family was deeply tied to Lake Superior, according to her. While Koski enjoys the winter and outdoor activities she grew up with, she felt the desire to pursue creative endeavors and began exploring them before and during her attendance at Finlandia University. She majored in graphic design and gained experience in a diversity of studio arts.

After college, Koski moved to Washington state and involved herself in community arts activism. She served as the exhibits curator for the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center for eight years and currently serves as a curator for the Cashmere Museum & Pioneer Village. Koski has created a multitude of public projects in various mediums, one of which is a 13-foot Yeti at Mission Ridge near Wenatchee. Her work typically seeks to pull together history and culture, and the sculptures near Quincy Mine capture this.

The process of crafting the sculptures began on a computer in Washington, but came to life in Baraga. Koski started with research on the mining community of the Keweenaw region and looked at historic photographs. She then crafted hand-drawn sketches to identify a pose. Then the sketch was scanned, and she created a digital drawing from the sketch’s outline. After some refining of the digital drawing which involves adding and subtracting details, Koski then would send it back and forth to KNHP for feedback.

Once the digital drawings were approved and finalized, she could then send the images off to Massie Manufacturing and Laser North, both Baraga County manufacturers, where they were cut out of COR-TEN steel. Koski explained that this specific steel alloy allows rust to form on the outside but will not travel into the core of the steel. She said of the half inch of steel, only a 16th of an inch on the exterior will rust. Currently, the sculptures are black and relatively clean.

“It’ll eventually have a solid, rusty patina on the outside,” Koski said. “But it keeps its structural integrity, which was the most important part, of course in public work.”

The rust will form after time and exposure to the weather, but preservation was not the only reason why the material was chosen. The rusted exterior is thought to better represent the Copper Country and the lifestyle and work-life those in the area were exposed to during the height of the mining era. It was noted that it may resemble the rusted cables that can be found throughout the area.

Once the sculptures were cut out, they were brought over to their current home where the unveiling occurred. Koski revealed each sculpture to spectators and gave brief explanations of each. The first sculpture depicted a woman holding an infant and represented the families of the miners. Koski wanted to represent more than just the workers of the region, and a mother and child she thought best showcased people living with the miners and the continuing lineage the miner families created.

Another sculpture is of three miners walking toward the mine, with one miner detailed and other two silhouetted. This sculpture was inspired from some of the reading Koski did during her research. Koski came across three brothers of Italian descent who worked in the mines. Two of the three brothers had perished in separate incidents within the mine leaving only one remaining of the family. The sculpture is a representation of the miners going to work and acknowledging those who didn’t come back out alive. The detailed miner represents the workers who were able to continue on with their lives and continue their stories through their families.

“I don’t really like to dwell on the morbid part,” Koski said. “But you can’t help but looking at those lists of names and acknowledging all the people that did lose their lives over the course of the mining.”

A third sculpture is of a waving miner directed at the miner trio. It is meant to be more lighthearted and simple with the intention exhibiting the relief or contentment of seeing friends or fellow workers in the distance.

The final sculpture is out of view from vehicles driving on US 41 because it is within the ruins of the dry house. The sculpture depicts a miner cleaning himself after working in the mine. He is washing himself using a basin and shows what workers would have to do before returning home to their families or going out in the community. It can be best viewed from the higher elevated area next to the ruin, but it is cautioned to be careful if walking in the ruin area due to uneven ground and pieces of the old building lying around. All these sculptures assist in telling the human tales of the mines in the Keweenaw region.

“The technology initiative is fascinating,” Koskin said. “However all the people that you know have roots here, and that you know are descendants of the immigrant population that came to mine is really important in that this is how the Keweenaw has survived. The mines [were then] slowly closing, and the families and the communities around here that are descended from all of these miners is a pretty important aspect. And so the technology is there, but the sense of community in these small towns and the people that came; the tired and the poor and all of these immigrants from around the world that ended up here are extremely important. So I think there’s many aspects of the mining history here that can appeal to all different sorts of people with all different interests, and the people were kind of missing from that landscape.”