Middletown >> The EcoArts Sculpture Walk, an annual art installation that has been hosted by Trailside Park in Middletown every year for the last 13 years, is a highlight for the South Lake County community. The show attracts up to 5,000 visitors each summer. So when the park was destroyed in the Valley Fire — along with nearly every sculpture winding along the forested path — it was a truly devastating loss, one walk organizers weren’t sure they would recover from.
After 15 days of evacuation orders, Lisa Kaplan and Karen Turcotte, both Cobb residents, went to the park to see how the sculptures had fared. Upon discovering only a few pieces left standing, they first thought it was the end of EcoArts. But then Turcotte — who began EcoArts 14 years ago — discussed it with county officials.
Inspired to help the scars heal they went to work, hoping to reopen the park by spring.
Unfortunately, when spring rolled around Trailside Park still wasn’t safe enough for the public. The EcoArts Sculpture Walk couldn’t go forward, not in its normal location anyway. But Kaplan and Turcotte had a plan — they would transform the walk into an exhibit, and set up just outside the Middletown Art Center (MAC), in a vacant lot that center staff were already in the process of turning into an art garden. They’d recently received a donation from Lake County Rising Valley Fire Relief Fund for the garden, so the sculpture exhibit served as a kick starter for that project.
But more importantly, setting up an EcoArts sculpture garden was a way to help the community heal. With the theme “Tribute to our Resilience,” the show features work that speaks to the spirit of the South Lake County community.
A piece by Sophie Lauterborn even utilizes what is left of her sculpture from last year’s walk. What was one a dancing nymph is now almost entirely charred chicken wire, save for a foot and the end of a finger. Lauterborn created a large and vibrant dancing flower, which appears to be growing from the burnt piece.
“The artist is trying to show the idea that we will rise again,” Turcotte explained. “From this comes this, the exuberance of all of us, the hopes and dreams of what can still happen in that park.”
Not only does the work revolve around the theme of resilience, but the act of putting on the show is a tribute in itself — to the people of Middletown and the creative community. Because although the park burned, they went ahead with the garden anyway.
It’s important to see that while things aren’t back to normal, normalcy is beginning to return in some ways. “Development is continuing to happen and creativity is continuing to happen,” said Kaplan. “Making order and beauty out of the chaos, I think that’s so critical for morale.”
Part of the art center’s mission has always been to contribute to the culture and the economy of the Middletown area. It’s been proven time and again that arts revitalize communities and create sustainability, in addition to bringing more people into an area. In light of the devastation of the fire, the MAC’s mission is even more important today.
“It’s about this desire, this need to make something happen in the community, for the community, so that art is really alive and breathing and a living organism in the community we live in,” Kaplan said.
The EcoArts sculpture exhibit is very different from walks of the past, because it has to be. Since there isn’t nearly as much room at the MAC, the show is about half the size of past years. The space is also quite the change. At Trailside Park, a large component of the walk involved the interplay of nature and art. At the MAC, the sculptures are about 15 feet apart.
They don’t plan to keep EcoArts at the MAC forever. In fact, they have solid and optimistic ideas about the future of Trailside Park. Turcotte is already working on a piece called Tumble Seeds, which will native seed sections of the park through a filtration system. Plus, there are a number of ecological plans, such as growing new oak trees out of the center of burned ones and collecting donations to plant legacy trees.
Through an extremely supportive partnership with the local government, who have encouraged Kaplan and Tucotte and EcoArts staff to move forward on the park, Turcotte is confident that they will be able to begin reforestation one day.
But for now, it’s essential to give the park time to heal on its own. “By waiting and allowing nature to step in and be a partner in the rehabilitation of this park, I think it’s really important that it just settles down and stays as it is for a while,” Turcotte said.
Thankfully, there are already positive signs of improvement. “There’s so much devastation there, but there’s also so much hope. Every time I drive by it’s greener than the time before, and that’s true of all the burn areas,” said Turcotte. “We’re seeing the hope and the green and the growth coming forward again and it’s making all of our hearts much stronger.”
The Middletown Art Center is located at 21456 Hwy 175, at Hwy 29.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
