'The Heritage of This Place': Sculpture to be dedicated Sunday in Roseau, Minn.

A metal sculpture embellished with symbols of the animals, land, people and history of the Northwoods will be dedicated Sunday afternoon in Roseau, Minn., both as part of long-term flood recovery and as a message to future generations, Roseau officials have said.

Roseau blacksmith and artist Sue Suess designed and built "The Heritage of this Place" with the help of her husband Joel Miller.

As she worked on the piece, Suess said, she read about the history of the Roseau area, its native people and the French voyageurs who came in the 1700s looking for beaver and for a water passage to the Pacific Ocean.

The sculpture has the figures of a French voyageur, a native woman, a beaver, a canoe and a moose with the moon in his antlers.

They and the other symbols of the piece tell a story about Roseau's past and what is important and worth protecting, according to Annette Hermansen, one of the people who helped raise money to pay for the sculpture. "We hope it will bring a message to our children and our grandchildren and even beyond."

"The Heritage of Place" will be placed in a greenway along Highway 11 near the Roseau River. The dedication ceremony will be from 1:15 to 1:45 p.m. Sunday indoors at the Roseau City Center. Next spring, the area around the sculpture will be landscaped and walking paths will be added, another step in developing a greenway in an area that was devastated by flooding nine years ago.

Reclaiming river

Since the 2002 flood, Roseau has built a new City Center near the greenway for city hall, the police department, the Roseau Public Library and the Roseau County Museum. The greenway also has a gazebo, which has become a popular gathering place.

After the flood, it was clear that people in Roseau were afraid of the river, Hermansen said. They wanted to protect themselves from future flooding, but they also made it clear to the city that they wanted to use the river and recognize its benefits and history, she said.

In 2008, the City of Roseau approached Suess and Miller about designing a large outdoor metal sculpture to be placed in the former flood area. Suess took her design inspiration from the name Roseau and its French heritage. Still, she never expected to actually build the sculpture.

Suess said she and Miller often get requests for sculpture designs that never actually become sculptures.

Then, in 2010, the city asked her to design the back side of the sculpture as well. The city had gotten a $10,000 grant from the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council and it looked like the sculpture was really going to happen. The sculpture would eventually get an $8,000 from the Laura Jane Musser Fund, two $500 grants from the Roseau Community Fund and funds raised by the community.

Assembling puzzle

"The Heritage of This Place" includes an outline of northern Minnesota, long flowing grasses and cattails, a lady slipper (the state flower), pine trees, a loon (the state bird), an eagle and a horned owl, a turtle and a heron, all cut, forged and hammered out of iron.

The sculpture is about 9-feet-4 inches long by about 6-feet-2 inches tall and weight 750 pounds, Suess said.

The cutting of the main base plate was done at Heatmor in Warroad, Minn., an industrial cutting facility, by programming the design into their computer and then using a plasma machine to cut the image. After that, the individual pieces were cut and forged, they were assembled like a three-dimensional puzzle, Suess said.

"It was actually assembling the composition that was the challenge, making it all look good and making it fit," she said.

Suess and her husband work as a team on projects, but this sculpture was mostly her work and her husband gave her full credit for it, she said. She alone signed the piece, she said. Suess said they were both proud to be associated with the project.

"Roseau is Joel's hometown and it is great to leave something like this, for his family," Suess said. "When we're long gone, it will still be here."

Reach Tobin at (701) 780-1134; (800) 477-6572, ext. 134; or send e-mail to ptobin@gfherald.com .

If you go

• What: Dedication of "The Heritage of This Place," a metal sculpture by Sue Suess of Raven Works of Roseau, Minn., and her husband, Joel Miller.
• When and where: 1:15 to 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Voyageur Room, Roseau City Center. Remarks by Professor Virgil Benoit, UND, Initiatives in French.
• Visit Roseau Library and Roseau County Museum: 1 to 4 p.m., both in City Center.
• 73rd anniversary of Roseau Library: Christmas Treasures program, 2:45 to 3:30 p.m.
• More about "The Heritage of This Place" sculptors: www.ravenworksforge.com/photo-gallery/sculpture-project/