Kicking off a campus-wide ephemeral art program, a new interactive temporary rock art installation featuring repurposed natural materials at Gardner Arboretum is highlighting an often overlooked part of campus.
Grounds and Building Services Director Sarah Ketchem said the installation is an opportunity to bring awareness and interest to the space.
“I think it’s a really beautiful space on its own,” Ketchem said. “But out there, it feels like it’s a little hidden, and maybe people aren’t aware. So I think that for me, what’s really exciting about it is just bringing awareness to that little note on campus that has a lot of beauty, but then adding the art piece, just kind of will make it shine even more.”
Landscape Project Manager Lynn Swank brought the idea to NC State Facilities and the campus Public Art Committee after she was inspired by a similar ephemeral art project at JC Raulston Arboretum that featured a display of recycled ceiling fans.
“The one that I was viewing was called ‘Fantasia’ … and it just was something that is so eye-catching and really cool,” Swank said. “Then we started having a discussion with folks on campus specifically, within our facilities division, to say, ‘hey, you know, can we get inspiration from that program that they do out at JC Raulston Arboretum and do something here on campus as well.’”
Facilities worked primarily to execute project design, implementation and landscaping efforts, in addition to some outside help, including stone craftsman Brooks Burleson.
“We just have this great mix of people who are craftsmen in their field, but then also have an artistic side to what they do,” Ketchem said. “So really, anytime we have a project that allows them to show that artistic side, they’re on board, because they love it. And they absolutely love creating spaces for students, faculty, and staff, and they love changing spaces and making them kind of stick out.”
The installation itself was designed with decorative stone ranging in size from gravel-like aggregate to boulders. Materials were used in the construction of a mosaic of a tree set in a mortar base, carved mulch designs and vertical sculptures placed in groups of three, similar in appearance to cairns.
“[The mosaic] was a way for us to give a nod to Gardner Arboretum itself because it’s named after M.E. Gardner, who used to be a horticulture department head as well as professor, and he’s pretty well renowned within the field of horticulture,” Swank said. “We also did some flat work too, what I was calling the vining sort of tendrils that are flat, but then they’re kind of carved into the mulch.”
Several elements of the installation are interactive, including the cairn-like rock sculptures dotted throughout the grounds.
“We are very much trying to encourage people to play with the stone that’s out here, you know, like build your own cairn or do your own, you know, sort of like a rock collection,” Swank said. “It’s a way for people to take a break.”
As the first iteration in the ephemeral art program, this art installation is testing the waters in terms of feedback and student interaction. Future installations are dependent on several factors, including artwork status, maintenance and potential student engagement.
Rich Holly, Arts NC State executive director and Public Art Committee member, said the committee has already talked about engaging more with students and putting the word out earlier in the school year to gauge ideas for ephemeral art and take a look at any proposals.
“And if we really get this up and going, it would be great to have new work every, let’s say January or so that could be up for the next 12 months,” Holly said. “The timeline is flexible. We’re not bound by anything. This is entirely up to us and up to whatever artists come forward with work and when they come forward.
To check out the installation for yourself, head to Gardner Arboretum, located south of Patterson Hall.
