Somerset: A Tale of Two Rivers

The Apple River rushes through Somerset, carving a a canyon bordered by 100-foot limestone bluffs. Just downstream, it flows into the St. Croix, which forms the western border of the town. The rivers were a major inspiration for the city’s Art Bench, explains Bruce Martell, a local carpenter who guided the project – with help from a local stone company and a bunch of students who don’t often get such opportunities.

Two limestone pillars stand seven feet above the bench’s surface. They represent the Apple, Martell says, and its towering bluffs. A winding ribbon of blue flows across the bench’s surface, representing the meandering St. Croix.

Those rivers were the highways that the French settlers who founded Somerset used in the 1850s. Connecting to that heritage was important for Martell, a descendant of Somerset settlers who homesteaded at the confluence of the Apple and the St. Croix in 1855.

‘Everyone has a creative spirit’

Connecting with the community was an important aspect for the young people involved, recalls Dave Folkert of Somerset School District. “The Bench Project’s core assumption is that everyone has a creative spirit. This was an opportunity for Somerset residents to better understand how abilities outweigh disabilities,” Folkert says.

The students involved were all from the district’s alternative or special education programs. They don’t participate in many extracurricular activities because of economic reasons, working parents who are unavailable, or they don’t fit into existing programs.

But working on the Art Bench gave them a chance to show what they can do, and an opportunity to expand their interpersonal skills.