Our little town of Tonkawa, OK, in 2006 was looking for a project to honor our state centennial celebration which would be coming up in 2007. Local artist, Audrey Schmitz, was challenged to come up with an idea for such a project. Tonkawa, is known as the Wheatheart of Oklahoma. To Incorporate both the wheat and the heart she conceived the idea of a heart shaped labyrinth, with a pausing stone embellished with a stalk of wheat. The labyrinth would also be surrounded by an historical timeline of the city of Tonkawa. After much discussion and other project proposals being presented, the labyrinth idea was voted on and approved.
After researching the construction of labyrinths, our committee of 15 dedicated and hardworking volunteers, consulted with and hired labyrinth builder, Marty Kermeen of Illinois, to continue the design process and turn the idea into an actual labyrinth. Marty is one of the best, if not the best, labyrinth builders in the world. He and his wife Debi own and operate the company Labyrinths In Stone, a division of their parent company, Artistic Pavers.
We found out that it is one thing to talk about a heart shaped labyrinth, and another thing to design one that can actually be built, while retaining the inherent heart shape. Marty made many drawings and they were narrowed down to one. With the assistance of labyrinth historian and author, Jeff Saward, of the UK, Marty presented us with a beautiful design that met all of the requirements.
Marty and his assistant Jorge Puga, arrived in Tonkawa on May 17, 2007, and 18 days later, the labyrinth was completed. Marty and Jorge are truly amazing to watch. They don't know the meaning of a day off once they start the construction of a project. After seeing them produce this beautiful labyrinth, in only 18 days, and with such care and meticulous perfection, everyone who comes to see the project, during its construction and since its completion, have come away with respect and admiration for what Marty and Jorge have done.
The images showing the construction of the labyrinth were taken by local photographer, Ken Crowder. After realizing the importance of documenting a project of this magnitude, he showed up for parts of each day during the process. His philosophy was, “It isn’t going to happen again, so we’ve got to document it now.” He also realized the importance of showing as much of the community support for the project as possible. As they say, “It takes a village.”
We hope that after viewing the photographs of the construction of the Heart In the Park labyrinth, you come away with an understanding and appreciation of all of the effort and hard work that went into turning a dream into reality!
