Every summer we welcome new art into the Webster's Woods Sculpture Park. This year 8 artists shared their vision under the theme of New Growth.
The call for art for Summertide 2023 is now open. Apply below.
The artist says: "A fallen leaf represents growth in the respect that it is fuel to feed the family of the growing community that surrounds the fallen."
The artist says: "Through my art, I want to educate people of all ages about nature.
Beller's Ground Beetle is endemic to Washington state, where it thrives in bogs and peat wetlands that are threatened by climate change. The role of beetles as decomposers in the ecosystem contrasts with the long lasting plastics from which this beetle is made."
The artist says: "For 30 years I have been making portraits of people, real people, as a photographer for advertising and editorial clients worldwide. But for over 40 years, I’ve been playing with trees, wood, lumber. I use reclaimed steel and urban tree fall. These trees have lived and died all around us. While the medium is reclaimed materials, it isn’t just a medium like a board or a piece of clay. It has a history, a local history, a life lived alongside us, a story of its own.
As with my photography, I’m looking for the portrait inside something, its story. The stories are about time, about age, about climate, about nature."
The artist says: "The universal image of the boat in many cultures and civilizations symbolizes a voyage or journey, perhaps the voyage to the 'other side' or the journey to the 'unknown.' "
The artist says: "As a child, I remember my father relying on labor unions to protect his rights as a human and validate his worth as a worker. I learned from a young age that in the United States, the working class is consistently rendered invisible on social, economic, and political spectrums.
As an artist, I often utilize found objects to capture my interest in the inherent histories and metaphorical significance of the discarded and forgotten. I seek to re-contextualize these objects in a way that elevates and foregrounds those overlooked classes.
I hope to provoke thought and change among social spheres, while providing recognition and highlighting the essential nature of the working class in society."
The artist says: "Working with commonplace and often reclaimed materials, my work explores the relationship between people and the natural environment.
This installation of 'safety orange' ferns relies on the intrusiveness of this unnatural, manmade color in a natural environment.
The installation raises questions about humanity's presence in nature as an agent of environmental change, but also how organisms might adapt, evolve and change in the face of evolutionary pressure in a new manmade environment."
The artist says: "Water Spider is a character from Cherokee legends.
Although small and "insignificant" she managed to bring fire to the people when none of the other animals could by walking across the water and putting an ember in the clay pot on her back. She personifies the importance of the small or weak to do great things and change the world."
Sixkiller is a Tsalagi (Cherokee) name denoting heritage in one of the warrior clans.
The artist says: "I have previously created stone, wood, and other found object sculptures organically in the environment without any expectation of permanence except through photographs.
Rock Star is my first exploration of creating a more permanent installation. The sculpture also personifies “Growth” in the way the star motif seems to burst and grow out from the surrounding rocks."