For the annual ArtPath exhibition from the Lansing Art Gallery and Education Center, Michigan artists were invited to create pieces along the city’s River Trail.
Many of them use the platform to spread a message or create a sense of place, like an artist who built a sculpture to give back to the city that has welcomed him in.
Henry Moonrod doesn’t want visitors to his ArtPath sculpture to just see it, but to hear it.
Between four tall poles, he has suspended a canopy created out of a grid of aircraft cable. Hanging from the structure are dozens of aluminum plates that Moonrod says are meant to evoke leaves.
In a breeze, they gently knock against each other, almost like a windchime
"It should sound hopefully very calming," he said.
What I wanted to do with this piece was literally make people look up and look around at the skies, where it's installed and start to appreciate the clouds, the beauty of the area.
The metal leaves have also been coated with the same material that’s on traffic signs to make them reflective.
"My hope with it is that cars that pass by it, people showing their lights on it will make it sparkle during the night and be iridescent during the day."
Moonrod says he wanted to offer viewers a new perspective from underneath the sculpture
"What I wanted to do with this piece was literally make people look up and look around at the skies, where it's installed and start to appreciate the clouds, the beauty of the area," he said.
He’s called the piece Sky Quilt. The sculpture was partially inspired by conversations Moonrod had with two Lansing leaders on the east side of the city
"We settled on the idea of rivers and trees, being something that, you know, Lansing has in abundance. "
But he says there’s a greater meaning to the piece
"Each of these leaves are woven together, much like Lansing is, and reflect differently and separately and uniquely, just like everybody in Lansing does," he said.
"But we all come together in this cohesive quilt ."
Moonrod created his first public sculpture during ArtPath last year and calls the experience the perfect way to start his career.
"There's something about public sculpture where you just meet, suddenly, all of these people that are making your city a great place to live in."
Lansing has given me so much since I've moved here that I wanted to create something lasting.
Moonrod lived all over the country before moving to Lansing to be with his partner studying at Michigan State University. He says this is his way of giving back after becoming a part of the community so quickly
"Lansing has given me so much since I've moved here that I wanted to create something lasting," he said.
"The hope is that this piece will eventually be installed somewhere in the Eastside, and work to bring the community together underneath it and bring more people into the parks. "
Henry Moonrod’s sculpture Sky Quilt can be found in Elm Park North near REO Town.
The Lansing Art Gallery and Education Center is a financial supporter of WKAR.
