Cooper Elementary School has a new, artistic addition! The Sheboygan Viewfinder project includes two custom manhole covers, called viewfinders, placed at sites where a culverted stream flows. These viewfinders replace old stormwater manhole covers, allowing people to see and hear the underground stream. And one location is at our very own Cooper Elementary School! 

Artist Ginger Brooks Takahashi developed this project during her 2023 residency at the Kohler Arts/Industry Foundry. She worked with the City of Sheboygan Department of Public Works and Cooper, with help from Kohler Foundry associates. The viewfinder design is inspired by the openings in lotus seed heads, which grow in local waterways, as well as ancient Japanese sword protectors. The viewfinders help protect the underground waterway and the people above them.

Learn more about this artist on the John Michael Kohler Arts Center website: jmkac.org/artist/brooks-takahashi-ginger/