For just over a year now, Art of Edina has brought community art into public spaces, according to Jill Emmer, director of Art of Edina and owner of Shine On Photos. This year, Art of Edina has also paired up with Abbey’s Hope to honor the 10-year anniversary of Abbey Taylor’s accident.
In 2007, Abbey was involved in a pool accident resulting from an uncovered pool drain. She initially survived, only to pass away nine months later after complications from organ transplants needed due to the accident. Abbey’s mother, Katey, started the Abbey’s Hope Foundation “to make sure this kind of injury never happens again.” The main goal of the foundation is to promote swimmer safety and safer pools.
To further this goal and in remembrance of Abbey, a dragonfly art project is located inside Southdale Center near Herberger’s and the Apple store. “It’s the perfect time to promote water safety with the beginning of summer,” Emmer says.
Why dragonflies? “Abbey loved dragonflies, so that’s become their logo,” Emmer says.
The exhibition involved the entire second grade at Concord Elementary. Michelle Eronson, art teacher at Concord Elementary, is in charge of the school aspect of the project. The second-graders made notebook-size dragonflies by cutting out an outline. They then put plastic over the outline and colored it, creating a stained glass effect. Emmer’s son Cy is in the second grade at Concord and participated in the project. Larger wings were colored by all the school’s students and serve as an anchor for the overall artwork.
A launch party for the exhibition was held in April and all Concord Elementary second-graders were invited. The students received goodie bags with treats and tips on swimmer safety.
Tradition Companies is the main sponsor for Art of Edina. The project is expected to remain at Southdale Center through July.
