Commissioned Artist Program

"Woman with baby" sculpture by Artist Kasey Koski.

NPS Photo/ Amber Kraft

Program Description

The Keweenaw Peninsula has been the site of copper extraction for more than 7,000 years. Visitors come from all over the world to visit what remains of one of the Earth’s most productive mining regions. As people moved on, much of the industrial landscape has given way to the return of nature. Beautiful forests surround historic buildings; grasses and wildflowers reclaim open spaces.

One feature of the mines is not visible to modern visitors – the workers and their families who once crowded the Copper Country. The goal of this program is to use art to return the presence of people to these historic landscapes.

Keweenaw National Historical Park, Keweenaw National Historical Park’s Advisory Commission, Isle Royale & Keweenaw Parks Association and the Quincy Mine Hoist Association are working together to bring this program to the Keweenaw landscape.

 

Artist Kasey Koski during 2024 unveiling ceremony

NPS Photo/ Brett Boyles

Artist Introduction

Kasey Koski is an interdisciplinary artist, curator and educator living in Wenatchee, WA. From 2015 to 2023 she served as exhibits curator for the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center and is currently serving as curator for the Cashmere Museum & Pioneer Village. She studied at Finlandia University in Upper Michigan and the Kuopio Academy of Craft and Design in Kuopio, Finland. In the summer of 2024, she worked with the Keweenaw National Historical Park and its partners install four steel sculptures around the Quincy Dry House Ruins.

Visit Koski’s website to learn more about her work and read her blog related to her project work: kaseykoskiart.com

 

More to Explore

Previous Calls for Commissioned Artist Program

2024 Keweenaw National Historical Park Commissioned Artist Program

Commissioned Art Photo Galleries

View All Commissioned Art Photo Galleries

 

A park visitor waves at one of the metal sculptures of a miner with the Quincy Mine buildings visible in the distance.

NPS Photo/D. Miller