Following a 1-credit experiential learning course at Muskegon Community College, titled "The Art of the Civil War," in which students were taken on a extended weekend-long bus trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; twenty-year-old Ari Norris wrote a life-changing letter to nationally recognized sculptor Gary Casteel.

     Being the last living artist to produce a monument on the expansive Gettysburg National Military Park, Casteel served as one of the course's several in-person "experiences." The group of students joined Gary for an on-site presentation at his sculpture of General James Longstreet, followed by a studio visit to view works in progress. 

     In the weeks following the meeting, Norris began drafting a request to Gary - to become the seventy-year-old artist's first-ever apprentice. Upon receiving Norris' letter, the pair had a life-changing phone call.

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     Norris would go on to join Casteel in Pennsylvania for two subsequent summer-sessions, by the end of which saw the groundwork being laid for Norris' first bronze commission, the Doris Rucks Memorial Sculpture at Muskegon Community College.

      Norris has recently completed Band Together, his largest commission to date, on October 20th, 2023. Representing Muskegon Heights High School's tradition of exuberantly high-stepping Marching Band Drum Majors, this double life-size sculpture is a prominent feature of Rowan Park and the surrounding community. 

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