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"It was from a dream, actually."
That's how Marycatherine Seger come up with the idea for her ArtPrize piece.
She knew she wanted to honor veterans, and according to Seger, her dream told her how to do it.
"When I woke up from the dream about my father, the picture was there in my head," she told FOX 17. "I'm a visual thinker. When I read a book, it's like watching a movie. So, this was there in my head. I knew what the chimes looked like. I knew how many pieces of wood I needed. Everything was there when I woke up one day.”
Thus, Music for Heroes was born.
Seger collected brass bullet casings from gun salutes at veteran's funerals and used them to create 166 wind chimes.
"I've been making this type of chime for years," said Seger. "People will bring me their dad's bullets, or grandpa's bullets, and I would make a wind chime for them. If there were any casings leftover, then they would let me keep them.”
She fixed those casings around antique spoons, stung them together with red-white-and-blue beads and hung them on a wooden structure so visitors could walk through, touch the chimes and hear the sounds.
When asked what she hopes people take away from her piece, Seger said, "Just realize how lucky we are to live in America and have the freedoms to enjoy life the way we want to without any restrictions pretty much on us.”
She continued to say, “but it's mostly a tribute from me to veterans everywhere, and just a way to say 'Thank you' for our freedom.”
You can find Seger's piece in the outdoor patio at One Bourbon, a restaurant on Bridge St. in Grand Rapids.
For a complete guide to ArtPrize, click this link.