Decorah Middle School dedicates new sculpture

Detail of the sculpture

Decorah native Kelly Ludeking used to attend classes at the Decorah Middle School.  On Monday morning, Ludeking, who is now a professional artist, was at the Decorah Middle School for the formal dedication of a sculpture he created entitled "Viking".  The work was begun last spring from an idea generated by several Middle School students.

On Monday morning many of those students were on hand along with a large crowd of students for the dedication of the 11-foot tall image of a Viking warrior made from scrap metal and machinery parts.

Ludeking thanked his former art teacher, Dawn Deines-Christensen, and told the students that he became an artist because of the inspiration he received while a student at Decorah and the chance the Decorah schools gave him to explore that inspiration.

The sculpture was paid for with funds from a grant received by ArtHaus.  Lea Lovelace of the ArtHaus noted on Monday morning that not many schools have an original work of art in front of their building.

Artist Kelly Ludeking

Last year's 8th grade students (now 9th graders) who came up with the concept of the sculpture

The sculpture includes a plaque