Community to Decorate 1 Grosse Pointe Perch

One of the will be decorated by none other than. . . you.

That's right, and Pewabic Pottery officials are asking for the community to help decorate one of the Perch to be on display as part of the .

A decorating station will be set up this Saturday in the Village during the annual Paint the Window Contest featuring pieces of clay that will be decorated and designed individually and then used to create a mosiac on a Grosse Pointe Perch.

There are 47 Perch that will be decorated, 46 of which are being done individually by artists selected by the fish's sponsor, according to Executive Director of the Chamber Jennifer Boettcher.

The campaign is intended to promote Grosse Pointe, encourage people to visit and seek out the fish after they are placed throughout the communities and will ultimately benefit when the fish are auctioned off in the fall.

The education staff at Pewabic Pottery will use the clay pieces decorated by the public Saturday in a mosiac design on the community Perch, said Pewabic's Director of Programs Jessica Guzman Dunn.

The clay pieces have already been fired and will be decorated with permanent markers, which is the only option to ensure the design isn't washed away or faded during the mosiac application process, Dunn said.

There are approximately 500 pieces of clay that need to be decorated and Dunn said she believes Saturday will be the only time an official station will be set up, so community members are encouraged to swing by and help.

Tiling the Perch after clay pieces are decorated will be a time-consuming process, she said, explaining the body will be covered in mosiac tiles while the head, fins and tail will be hand-painted by Dunn. All in all, the process will take at least a couple of days.

The Pewabic education staff will likely use broken pieces of pottery to fill in any gaps among the community decorated tiles, she said.

Once the fish is completely decorated, it along with 46 Perch will be put on display at the , where they will all be revealed during a preview party July 11.

During that weekend, Pewabic Pottery will be offering fish-themed workshops for children in which they will create a bowl that looks like a fish, Dunn said. Registration for those workshops will be handled through the Ford House.

The decoration station will be set up at Kercheval Avenue and St. Clair Street from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Officials hope you'll stop by and decorate some clay!