Above: The annual outdoor art exhibit will open with viewing of works being installed along trails this Saturday. (images courtesy of Art on the Trails, photos L-R by Paul Aniolillo and Kristen Street of their own works)
The 10th Annual Art on the Trails will be open to the public this weekend through mid-September. The kickoff this Saturday is a special daylong event with the public invited to view artists installing sixteen works.
Southborough Open Land Foundation hosts the summerlong exhibit alongside trails at Beals Preserve. The installation event runs from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm this Saturday, June 13th.
The opportunity to speak with artists about their intentions and inspiration may especially be of interest to anyone interested in trying their hand at writing poetry to be included in this year’s chapbook.*
The artists will be installing their works from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. (This year, they haven’t posted a specific schedule for each exhibit.)
The exhibit will continue to be open to the public dawn to dusk until the closing ceremony on September 13th.
Below is a map of the exhibit and details on the selected works and artists, including the Neary School project and two other artists from town:
#1 – Here and There & Now and Then by Mike Libby of Portland, Maine
#2 – Cordon Sanitaire by Rachel Loischild of Roslindale
#3 – Memory Overwritten by Bob Kephart of Southborough
#4 – House of Straw by Pam Bonaguide of Wayland
#5 – Walkin in a Spiderweb by Chelsea Bradway of Southborough
#6 – We Must Look After Each Other by Shannon McGuire Richards of Auburn
#7 – Totems by Kristin Street of Foster, RI
#8 – Cattails by Tom Dailey of Portland, Maine
#9 – Vestiges by Pam Kainz of Wayland
#10 – Fit to be Tied by Sarah Alexander of Sutton
#11 – From Pterodactyl to Passenger Pigeon to Pileated Woodpecker by Paul Angiolillo of Weston
#12 – mute, muse, mutiny by Bing Lin of East Weymouth/Gunta Kaza of Wayland
#13 – Watch Out! by Gunta Kaza of Wayland
#14 – Year the Trees Remember by Jody Graff of Philadelphia, PA
#15 – Corriente by Paulina Fuenzalida-Guzman of New Bedford
#16 – Phases by 230 Neary School Students and Art Teacher Denise Johnson
According to a school announcement, volunteers who want to help with the Neary installation should join them at 1:00 pm.
It’s the 8th year that Johnson has led a project that incorporates work from each of her 4th & 5th grade Neary students. This year’s project “Phases” is described as “a 30+ foot textile weaving . . . depicting the eight phases of the moon.” You can read more about it here.
The Neary project is the school’s response to the theme and questions that exhibit organizers promoted for the 10th annual exhibit Time in the Landscape.
A press release promotes:
Art Juror Lisa Barthelson (Rutland, MA) said of the selection process, “Time in the Landscape invited artists to wrestle with something we all experience but rarely pause to examine…the way time moves through a place, and how a place holds time. The submissions this year were remarkable in their range and depth, and selecting from among them was both a privilege and a genuine challenge. I’m thrilled with the breadth of perspectives these sixteen projects bring to the trails, and I look forward to seeing how visitors encounter these works in the landscape in the months ahead.”
“The Southborough Open Land Foundation is delighted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Art on the Trails,” said Sally Watters, Trustee of the Southborough Open Land Foundation. “Seeing the preserve come alive each summer with extraordinary sculptures — and knowing that visitors of all ages are walking the trails and engaging with art in nature — is exactly what SOLF hopes to inspire.”
The exhibit is made possible through partnership with both SOLF and the Southborough Community Fund, as well as support from from Jennifer Juliano Real Estate, Middlesex Bank, Fine Automotive Services, and Fay School.
As always, the art must leave no permanent trace to the environment and be installed without harm to the surrounding trees and vegetation at the preserve.
To learn more about the annual initiative, visit www.artonthetrails.com.
*The annual Call for Poetry to be included in a chapbook inspired by the exhibit will open June 15th – July 31st. Click here for more details.
