MERRILL

SPRINGS PARK

Like our ancestors, we cherish and respect the springs, lakes, and rivers as living beings.

Dugout at Merrill Spring
 Gene Delcourt (Abenaki, French, and Filipino)

Delcourt’s sculpture depicts a Ho-Chunk man crafting a dugout canoe along the shore of Lake Mendota. The artist selected the Merrill Spring site because canoe-making was essential to travel, trade, and fishing, all central to daily life for the Ho-Chunk people. The work invites viewers to imagine the Ho-Chunk world before contact, and to witness a moment suspended in time as a craftsman shapes a canoe from a single log. The sculpture is life-sized, with a canoe approximately 15 feet long, half-carved from its original form.

Gene Delcourt (Madison, Wisconsin) is a wood sculptor, who during his MFA studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison sought the guidance of Ho-Chunk artist Harry Whitehorse to further his education. During this time, Harry convinced Gene to attend wood carving symposiums abroad – leading Gene to participate in six European events. Honoring his mentor, Gene is a founder of the Harry Whitehorse International Wood Sculpture Festival.

Merrill Springs Park

Nįį means water. Nįį has always brought people together at Teejop. Long ago, not far from here, people lived along the shores of the ancient lake that preceded Tee Wąąkšikhomįk (Lake Mendota). Over many thousands of years, Ho-Chunk and other Indigenous people travelled by canoe and stored them along the nearby changing shoreline. So far, sixteen canoes have been found between here and Second Point. The oldest is more than 5,000-years-old. Springs, too, like Mąąka Mąą'i (Medicine Springs) here at Merrill Springs Park, are very special places. The Spring Harbor neighborhood once may have had nearly fifty. Many still exist at Teejop, like those near Monroe Street.

Resources

Reflection

  • What is your personal relationship with water?

  • What experiences have you had with water in Teejop?

  • Who cares for the water now?

  • What would it mean to understand water as more than a resource?

  • How do we carry out our shared responsibilities to water in Teejop?

View map of art installation location

Parking at Merrill Springs Park and along Spring Ct. is extremely limited. The Friends of Merrill Springs Park recommend parking near Spring Harbor Middle School (1110 Spring Harbor Dr, Madison, WI 53705). Please plan on walking to Merrill Springs Park.