MIDPINES–The Mariposa County Planning Department and Arts Council invite the community to submit constructive feedback for new public art projects. The projects will be located in Midpines County Park . They will be created by local artists, Abby Miller, Anna Friedland, and Lx (Alex) Lewis as a part of the Working Lands, Working Artists project.
The public may view concepts, see details, and offer constructive feedback to the artists online at www.mariposaartscouncil.org/working-artists. You can also visit the Mariposa County Library (4978 10th St, Mariposa, CA 95338) through Feb. 15.
The Art & Artists
Abby Miller
Miller and Friedland will co-create folk art style panels on the Midpines County Park bus shelter and Community Hall. The panels illustrating themes surrounding Midpines community’s role in land stewardship: protection and growth.
Anna Friedland
The panels feature Bear Creek, local flora and fauna, and trees that symbolize the community’s natural resources. The panel themes are inscribed in both English and Southern Sierra Miwuk languages. The final product will be three pieces – meticulously hand-painted, digitized, and printed on durable, fire resistant metal panels.
Lewis will carve a Manzanita wood sculpture titled “Dreaming of Water ”. It will depict a Miwuk woman whose ancestors have been stewards of the land in Mariposa County for time immemorial. The statue will consist of manzanita wood and iron, with a cement base to stand the piece on level ground. The sculpture will have a water fountain-like capacity that allows rainwater to be collected from the woman’s headdress. The rainwater will then flow into her open, cupped palms below.
The sculpture will incorporate a range of natural materials used by the Indigenous people of the region in their homes, cooking baskets, tools, and other supplies. “Dreaming of Water” tells a story of balancing our energy and resources, which are essential for all living beings, including the trees of the forests.
Working Lands, Working Artists
Developed by the Mariposa County Planning Department and the Mariposa County Arts Council and funded by a National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town” grant, Working Lands, Working Artists engages local artists in the design and installation of public art/creative placemaking projects that explore our community’s relationship with agriculture and working landscapes. Working Lands, Working Artists aligns with the adopted Mariposa County Creative Placemaking Strategy and is intended to support recommendations in the Mariposa County Planning Department’s Agriculture and Working Lands Conservation Plan (AWLCP).
The Arts Council is an incorporated not-for-profit organization created to promote and support all forms of the cultural arts, for all ages, throughout Mariposa County and is supported in part by the County of Mariposa, the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and the California Arts Council, a state agency.
