Heartland Artists Gallery is thrilled to place the newest blueberry sculpture at Zentis off Oak Drive and Markley Street in Plymouth. The art on this three-foot sculpture, titled “Bounty”, is brilliant with color and dimension of fresh, ripened fruits of all kinds. Many Heartland Artists including; Carrolyne Babcock, Jon Miller and Kathy Zentz skillfully painted the vibrant, detailed and realistic art in an estimated sixty hours.
Heartland is proud that Zentis, an international fruit company was interested in supporting the arts by sponsoring a blueberry sculpture adding more art in the streets of Plymouth.
Zentis has been in Plymouth since 2006 when they purchased the facility when Ready Pac moved out. Plymouth currently is a supplier to all the major yogurt groups, Dannon, Chobani, General Mills, Noosa, etc. etc. as well as manufacturing and suppling caramel to Starbucks. Zentis was established in Aachen, Germany in 1893 by Franz Zentis by finding an outlet for slow moving fruit by turning it into a jam, apricot being the first article.
Zentis still produces jams at their Aachen location but are now one of the global leaders in supplying fruit prep to the dairy industry worldwide, primarily the yogurt industry. Zentis has three manufacturing locations abroad, Germany, Poland and Hungary. Two locations in North America — Plymouth and Philadelphia.
Hamad Hesami shared. “We decided on the blueberry because we are very active in donating to community events and charities. We have people who live here who work for us and we want to support their community as well. This is just another example of investing into the community by supporting these types of outlets, programs, and businesses.”
There are currently 15 blueberry sculptures around the Plymouth area, they are placed at these locations: 1) Pilot News, 2) Marshall County Museum, 3) Heartland Artists Gallery, 4) 5) River Park Square, 6) Plymouth Library, 7) Gibson Insurance, 8) Ameriprise, 9) Blueberry Festival Office, 10) Marshall County Community Foundation, 11) Pirod, 12) Dairy Queen, 13) Plymouth Municipal Airport 14) Nixon Field in Centennial Park and now 16) Zentis. Soon there will be two other sculptures at Lincoln Junior High School and at Marshall County Boys & Girls Club. Each blueberry sculpture has a sponsor plaque placed on the cement base that shares the sponsor and artist. The first sculptures were placed in River Park Square in 2016 that received great attention and accolades. Heartland is thrilled to see more interest from sponsors who assist in the Gallery’s fundraising and help to bring more Art on the streets! Thank you to all who have assisted in this effort over the last six years. Our goal is to have at least 25 sculptures placed in the area. Thank you to Lincolnway Auto Body, Vanadco and Ozinga for their donations and support in completing the blueberry sculptures. If you are interested in adding more Art in the street with these three-foot dimensional and colorful works of art, contact Jon Miller or Heartland Artists Gallery 574-936-9515 for more information.
Photo Caption: The newest blueberry sculpture titled ‘Bounty’ can be found at the Zentis facility in Plymouth. (Left to right) Michael Maciejack (CI Director, Zentis), Hamad Hesami (CEO, Zentis), Udo Liebl (Director of Industrialization, Zentis), Syed Raza (Director of Operations, Zentis), Carrolyne Babcock (Artist, Heartland Artist), Lawerence Otto (Senior Cook/Consultant, Zentis), Robert Reed (Ozinga), Anna Kietzman, (President, Heartland Artists Gallery).
