ART AS A WAY TO PEACE

public Art project at the corner of Atlantic Ave and Five Mile Line Road

The scene at the Southeast corner of this intersection was born of collaboration. Mindy MacLaren and Kristina Hutch Matthews were practically strangers when they purchased this land together in 2018, but a shared vision to preserve this intersection’s last undeveloped corner has blossomed into a wonderful friendship between these two women. Their idea to uplift and support the community through art was mobilized when the Covid-19 pandemic began and the world became even more polarized.

 We believe that the unspoken positive messages conveyed through ART can bring us together.

 Art is viewed differently by every person, but our vision is to use this highly visible corner to create a public art statement that gives people hope, creates an inspirational vision of what is possible, celebrates the land for its own sake, and most of all, helps people believe that we have the potential to emerge from difficult times as peaceful as we are powerful. Those are two words that may not often appear in the same sentence; but there is incredible strength, sovereignty and power in holding a vibration of peacefulness, as “Serenity,” this dove/phoenix, created by sculptor James Seaman, embodies for all to see.

To learn more about James Seaman and his incredible sculpture work, you can go to www.jamesseaman.com

PLEASE, NO CLIMBING ON THE ROCKS.

The entrance to the spiral walkway is from the SouthEast corner of the lot. Conditions are muddy right now (clover and grass seed have been sown), so please walk with caution and respect for the new plantings. This will be a work in progress, as we add native plants and pollinators to help restore this land to its natural state after the decimation and destruction that it had to endure for the past several years as the staging area for the gas pipeline project and the road widening project. The boulders we used to create the spiral walkway were saved from these infrastructure improvements — hopefully illustrating how beauty and order can eventually come from chaos.

It was our intention for people to experience this art through discovery and observation, without knowing the full story first, so that each viewer might have their own personal relationship with the art form. This is how art can heal. No two people will see it the same way; and this is how it should be.

We invite you to share your thoughts and questions with us through our contact form, below: