Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette Groups from the Carnegie, Portage Lake Library and Houghton Elementary School designed pike, walleye and trout cutouts that have been placed throughout downtown Houghton. These cutouts are decorating the downward platform where the above ground parking lot used to be on Sheldon Ave.

HOUGHTON — The City of Houghton is home to another public art installation. According to a press release from the City of Houghton, in partnership with the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, Houghton-Portage Township Schools Art Department, and the Portage Lake District Library around 180 colorfully painted fish have been placed on display in Downtown Houghton. The “galleries” include the Waterfront Walk on Pewabic Street and along the waterfront trail near the Portage Lake District Library.

The fish were cut out of a weatherproof material and boxes of them were given to each of the three organizations to be used as canvases where art students, volunteers, and patrons could let loose their creativity and paint a fish to be put on display. This past winter the fish were painted over several events. The paint jobs range from depictions of real fish, to outdoor scenes, to whimsically decorated polka dotted and patterned fish. The painted fish were then sealed with a polyurethane and will be placed in “schools” along downtown walkways and in gardens.

“Seeing them all in a group laid out for the final sealer coat you can see the creativity at work. Every one of them is different. You had everybody from young children to trained adult artists painting something they love on a fish. Some of them even signed their fish, so you know they are proud of what they created.” Said Eric Waara, City Manager. “Everyone can come down to find their fish to show their families and in the process see all of the others that were done.”

The fish were placed along the trail in gardens as part of the HHS Senior Class’s volunteer work with the Houghton Beautification Committee on Tuesday. More than 100 were set along the handrails on the Waterfront Walk by volunteers from the Beautification Committee to add public art and display the creativity of our community.