Natural Wonders Sculpture

Description: This hands-on community art project was designed to engage a diverse range of people working together to construct environmental and socially relevant sculptures. Collaboration, creativity, and connection to the environment and one another are themes woven into the process and materials involved in the making of these artworks. Local artist and Meridian High School (formerly George Mason) art teacher, Marc Robarge, worked with volunteer groups across the Little City in free workshops to create the sculptures. It was a multi-generational, diverse group of participants that included students from all four schools, citizens who came to the library and community center, residents of the Kensington Senior Living community, a Boy Scout Troop, and others.

Originally, there were five sculptures created and installed along the trail. The finished sculptures were intentionally life-like giving viewers pause to consider whether they were man-made or organic biological forms. This lets viewers consider the relationship of art, a human activity, to nature. The creative process of making these sculptures is a metaphor for land use in which human activity is sensitive to the site, collaborative in nature, and in balance with the earth.

Look for fungi up on the tree trunks

Artist: Marc Robarge

Year: 2018

Medium: Sculpture

Location: Howard Herman Stream Valley Park, 601 W Broad St, Falls Church, VA 22046

Ownership: Public Art, funded through the City of Falls Church, Arts and Humanities Grant Program

GPS: 38.88515554, -77.180229