Students learn skilled trades while completing sculpture garden
Tyson Hinks is putting the finishing touches on the final sculpture for Clinton’s new Student Sculpture Garden.
“It’s taken us a couple of weeks, so far. We’re learning to TIG weld, but then around these lap joints, we did short circuit MIG welding. It’s been really enjoyable,” said Hinks, a level 1 welder apprentice.
Hinks is amongst a handful of Huron-Perth apprentices and high school students who got to sharpen their skilled trades skills while creating public art.
“We could get public art from anywhere around the world, but this is local art, that was done by our local youth, and we couldn’t be more proud,” said Angela Smith, Community Improvement co-ordinator for the Municipality of Central Huron.
Smith spearheaded the Student Sculpture Garden through government grants and support from Huron County and the Huron Manufacturing Association.
Apprentices at Technical Training Group in Stratford, seen on March 22, 2024, put final touches on sculptures for a Student Sculpture Garden in Clinton. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)
In all, ten students created sculptures will be installed in Clinton’s Millennium Park. Each one a combination of creative vision and skilled trades training.
“It’s kind of cool to build something and have your name on it, and people can go enjoy it, look at it. And, it’s your work,” said Meghan McMichael, a level 1 apprentice doing her skilled trades training at Technical Training Group in Stratford.
“I’m actually born in Clinton, so I’m from the area. It’ll be nice to drive by and see the work our apprentices did,” said Technical Training Group Instructor Adam Smyth.
Clinton’s Student Sculpture Garden will be officially unveiled to the public on April 4.
The sculptures are expected to last decades, and the skills that created them should last a lifetime.
Apprentices at Technical Training Group in Stratford, seen on March 22, 2024, put final touches on sculptures for a Student Sculpture Garden in Clinton. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.