Outlined in newly planted bushes, the red-and-black-bricked labyrinth that now dominates the center of Huntley Park is the culmination of a group project started four years ago.

Concluding a joint effort by the NIU Art Museum and the DeKalb Park District, the DeKalb Community Labyrinth & Memorial Garden, located at Huntley Park in the 400 block of South Second Street, was dedicated Sunday.

In an outdoor ceremony, Peggy Doherty, director of the NIU Art Museum, welcomed those in attendance and introduced the special guest speakers.

“This project was conceived four years ago, by a NIU art school graduate student,” Doherty said.

Among the speakers was Dr. Laura Bird, who holds a doctorate in religion and culture, who spoke of the mythos of the labyrinth.

“It’s not a maze, it’s a single path with a lot of twists and turns,” Bird said. She spoke of how this particular labyrinth is based on one in the Chartres Cathedral in France.

The theme among most of the speakers was that the labyrinth was created for the community.

“This was a project that had community written all over it,” said Jerry Smith, executive director of the DeKalb County Community Foundation.

Marty Kermeen, a labyrinth builder, talked about a story of he and his wife returning to a labyrinth they previously had built in Knoxville, Tenn. They were returning home from a labyrinth convention in Florida and passed through Knoxville to revisit the site. When they got there, a woman from the downtown Episcopal Church told them that on Sept. 11, 2001, parishioners and others nearby who had come to pray began walking through the labyrinth.

Kermeen also told of how he talked to world-renowned historian Jeff Saward, who has researched the relationship between the raise in popularity of labyrinths and changes in history.

“Throughout the long history of labyrinths, whenever and wherever society is undergoing rapid change and development, the labyrinth has blossomed,” Saward said. “Now, once again, humanity is seeking the sure path of the labyrinth in an uncertain and confusing world.”

There is another turf labyrinth located near Lowden Hall on campus and is open for all who wish to walk its path.