EcoArts: Lake County Sculpture Walk opens 14th season with June 1 reception
- Lake County News reports
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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Art Center invites the public to join in festivities to celebrate the reopening and 14th season of the EcoArts Sculpture Walk at the Middletown Trailside Park.
“We have been waiting nearly four years for this moment and are very excited,” said Lisa Kaplan, programs director at the Middletown Art Center. “Although the Valley fire devastated the park and the 2015 Sculpture Walk, regrowth is happening throughout the park with young Manzanitas, oak shrubs, grasses and wildflowers coming up everywhere. There is more work to be done to continue to help restore the natural environment, but things are coming back much better than I expected.”
EcoArts Sculpture Walk was a popular Lake County destination before the fire. MAC has worked closely with the county of Lake’s Public Services Department in the past few months to set parameters for artwork, and to prepare the trails. The walk now has a new location at the southeast section of the park.
“We called this year’s exhibit ‘Locus’ to honor the sense of place that is emerging as we continue to recover and rebuild here in South Lake County,” added Kaplan. “Reopening the Sculpture Walk and through it, increased public use of the park, is a milestone in our recovery.”
The Sculpture Walk will officially open at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 1.
The exhibit includes sculptures that reflect on the natural environment or address ecosystem restoration by artists who participated in the Sculpture Walk in the past, as well as new eco-artists.
Cobb Mountain Elementary students also are participating in with bat boxes installed high up along the trail. Poetry readings from 5 to 5:30 p.m., music and wish making for the park will be part of the celebration.
The Middletown Art Center encourages the public to visit the Trailside Park and re-engage with what was, what is and what will come in the future.
The 14th Annual EcoArts Sculpture Walk will remain on view through Oct. 15. The park is open dawn to dusk daily free to the public. Hiking shoes, hats, and water bottles are advised. Middletown Trailside Park is located off Highway 175 at 21435 Dry Creek Cutoff.
“Locus” is supported in part by an award to Middletown Art Center from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support was given by Greg Clouse – Art by Design, the county of Lake, Hardester’s Market, Locus workshop participants and volunteers.
Stay up-to-date on all classes, exhibits and events happening at MAC, and consider a membership to support this valuable Lake County arts and culture resource at www.middletownartcenter.org .