Art Along the Trails 2019
Presented by
The Andover Village Improvement Society (AVIS)
and Andover Arts & Culture Alliance
#AndoverCreates #AndoverOutdoors
About the exhibit
Art Along the Trails 2019 was a celebration of 125 years of AVIS preserving wildlife habitats and water resources while providing free access to hills, woods and waterways for Andover residents and visitors. Art and nature bring beauty into our lives, inspire us with wonder and curiosity and spark our imaginations and creativity. By sharing our creativity with each other in the natural environment, we honor the gifts we receive from it.
In April, individual artists, collaborative artists, students and community groups were invited to submit artwork for consideration. As the first collaboration between AVIS and AACA, artists were encouraged to consider how the natural world informs their art and how their art compliments the natural world with particular emphasis on AVIS’ trails. Projects included a mixture of sculptures, photography, interactive installations, and workshops. They were installed across the AVIS trail network from June into September 2019.
Participating Artists & Organizations
Cassie Doyon/Pangea Mosaics
Avis Trail: Burns
Empty Nest is a mosaic sculpture created by mixed media artist Cassie Doyon. Cassie often uses a variety of materials, found objects, and colors in her work, incorporating spontaneity and serendipity into her pieces. Empty Nest invites trail visitors to observe her whimsical form and colors, while contemplating the artist’s intent.
The Cogitation Zone/Lisa Hertel
Avis Trail: Harold R. Rafton
Plastic Pony is a metal sculpture created by artist Lisa Hertel. Lisa often incorporates multiple techniques and media in her ceramic, wire or watercolor works, using environmentally friendly methods whenever possible. Plastic Pony invites trail visitors, particularly kids, to consider our use of plastics and its impact on the environment.
Heidi Jackson
Avis Trail: Deer Jump
Recycled Matters: Magical Mushroom Soiree is a mixed-media sculpture created by artist Heidi Jackson. As an expressionistic painter/sculptor, Heidi often works in a variety of materials including paint, paper, clay, stone, wood, and reclaimed materials. Recycled Matters invites trail visitors to celebrate life’s energy and the magic of our interactions with nature.
Sharon Lapham and Sue Millman
Avis Trail: Vale
Imitation/Invitation of Tree Bark is a series of watercolors by artists Sharon Lapham and Sue Millman. Sharon has created paintings, videos, and sculptures using objects from river clean-ups. Sue is a painter and a fabric artist. As longtime members of the Shawsheen River Watershed Association, they’ve witnessed the effect years of mistreatment the watershed has suffered. This project aims to illustrate trees’ strength and endurance, managing to survive despite the vagaries of encroachment and waste-dumping.
The Lost Notebook
Avis Trail: Deer Jump
Artist Walks (3) is a series of guided walks for self-identified artists of all disciplines. The walks are developed by Morgan von Prelle Pecelli, who works at the intersection of anthropology, art, and sustainable development, thinking about how we create meaning in places where we live, work, learn, and play. Each walk explores a different way of moving along the trail and invites participants to share in a conversation about creative practice.
Memorial Hall Library
Avis Trail: West Parish
“All the World”: A Storywalk® is an installation project created by Andover’s Memorial Hall Library staff. All the World, a picture book by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee, shares a positive message that everything and everyone on this planet is important and connected. Designed specifically with families in mind, this project hopes to promote literacy, health, art appreciation, and a love of the outdoors by encouraging all of us to take a walk while enjoying a story along the way.
Emily O’Hara, Molly Foley, and Lillian Gendreau
Avis Trail: Burns
Interwoven is an interactive weaving project created by artists Emily O’Hara, Molly Foley, and Lillian Gendreau. Emily and Molly are self-taught weavers, Lillian is a photographer, and this will be their first collaboration. Interwoven inspires trail visitors to consider the natural world around them and their related feelings, observations, and thoughts. Participants are invited to respond to posted questions. Each week these responses are woven into the project creating a weft thread and shared document of visitors’ experiences on the trail.
SHED Children’s Campus
Avis Trail: Shawsheen River
Hidden Village in the Trees is a collaborative and durational installation project created by the students and teachers of SHED Children’s Campus. At SHED Children’s Campus, kids are encouraged to engage nature to learn & grow, express themselves with art & their bodies, connect to others, and find peace & joy. Each week, the fairy village will grow and evolve, giving trail visitors a chance to return again and again to discover the project’s ongoing transformation.
Silver Labyrinth Design
Avis Trail: West Parish
Copper Milkweed is a metalwork sculpture created by artist Emily O’Hara. Emily is a metalsmith and fiber artist who creates jewelry and woven works incorporating metal into the designs. This sculpture is made of copper using fold-forming, a forging technique and fabrication. Trail visitors encountering Copper Milkweed are encouraged to consider the important role such plants play in the lifecycle of key pollinators including Monarch butterflies who need milkweed to lay their eggs.
Emily Trespas
Avis Trail: Stanley
Migration is a series of 125 handmade ceramic containers created by Emily Trespas. The vessels symbolize birds and botanicals; they are also rain gauges, markers of weather patterns and seasons. The installation invites visitors to consider the passing of time and the movement of nature. Trespas’s work is grounded in a practice of collecting, re-purposing, and re-interpreting. She is inspired by ideas of absence & presence, and our place and the surrounding world.
Rich Vogel
Avis Trail: Shawsheen River
Andover Trails in Black and White is a photography project created by artist Rich Vogel. Rich makes photographs of nature and landscapes to escape the hectic rush of life and focus on the world around him, composing the shot and waiting for the right moment, as time allows. By juxtaposing Andover Trails in Black and White against the lush greenery of the trail where the photograph was made, visitors can gain a different perspective and insight into the scenery around them.
About our partner
The Andover Village Improvement Society (AVIS) is a 125-year old land conservation organization with a mission to acquire, protect and maintain land in its natural state in the town of Andover, Massachusetts. AVIS’ thirty reservations include forests, fields, wetlands, and vernal pools and are open to the public for hiking, birding, skiing, and quiet enjoyment. In 2019, AVIS is celebrating its 125th anniversary with a year-long offering of specially crafted events to involve townspeople and many others. AVIS is one of the oldest land trusts in the country and has been acquiring and preserving land in Andover since 1894 including the 5-mile long section of land and trail along the Merrimack River.
AVIS has collaborated with other organizations such as the Essex County Greenbelt Association (ECGA), Andover Trails, the Andover Center for History & Culture, and the town’s Memorial Hall Library (MHL) to organize walks, hikes, cross country ski and snow shoe treks, educational classes, and other activities. Its open land protects the habitat of many plants and animals.