Last spring, Dowagiac installed signs leading the way to some of the city’s most prized assets.

While the installments helped spruce up town a bit, the way-finding signs were really designed to help out-of-towners find landmarks and destinations that most Dowagiac residents pass on a daily basis.

Recently, however, the City found a way to tie the locals to the tourism-driven signs when they added art made by local students to the guideposts.

The art was chosen as part of a contest set up by Dowagiac Union Schools art teacher Dean Hill, and features the 12 best pieces of artwork created by the local high school students.

We love this collaboration.

We applaud any time the city can find a way to help enrich the school district, and in this case, the students were able to in turn enrich the city.

Because of the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival and the city’s public sculptures, Dowagiac is well-known regionally for its cultural richness. Adding student artwork to the way-finding signs is just another example of the importance of the arts in the Grand Old City.

As people flock to Dowagiac’s downtown for the popular festival in just a couple of months, we’re happy that they’ll be greeted by signs that point the way, but also by art created by some of the city’s youngest artist.

The students chosen to be represented in this special project should feel fortunate to live in a city that appreciates their work, and to have a teacher like Mr. Hill who advocates for displaying it.

We encourage the city to continue to look for ways to take advantage of this partnership, and as the fine arts festival approaches, we encourage students to continue to participate in all the artistic opportunities has to offer.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Craig Haupert, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.