Ledgeview aims to promote community art initiatives with paintings along the East River Trail in Ledgeview Park, Sept. 9, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
LEDGEVIEW, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Another set of trail paintings will soon be brightening the pavement of the East River Trail.
It’s part of the town of Ledgeview’s campaign to promote public art in the community.
“We are surrounded by natural beauty and art is a great way for us to express that natural beauty, but also just to have a sense of place here in Ledgeview. We’re super excited that this is our next iteration of beauty added to our trail system,” said Nicole Van Helden, chair of Ledgeview’s Public Art Committee.
The committee launched their public art program in 2021 after an extensive planning process involving town residents and outside advisors. Since then, three trail paintings have been completed along the East River Trail in Ledgeview Park.
In March, the committee sent out a call for local artists to submit proposals for the fourth set of trail paintings. Longtime Ledgeview resident Carlie Petersen was selected, and on Monday, she began her work.
“I was so excited to learn about this trail mural opportunity. My illustrations that I’m going to be putting into three murals are based on the town of Ledgeview, and it’s kind of a map going through some of the landmarks,” Petersen explained.
She said kids can use their scooters, bikes, rollerblades or even Matchbox cars to “drive through” the mural.
It’s all connected with roads and trails, and it’s meant to be interactive. It’s kind of special to me because my kids and I used to make ‘scooter tracks’ in our driveway [using sidewalk chalk]… Neighborhood kids would come over and it was just a really fun tradition.
Each set of trail paintings that have been completed so far are spread throughout the park. The location chosen for Petersen’s art –near the main entrance of Ledgeview Park — is near aplayground, baseball diamonds and recreational fields.
Petersen expects the paintings will be complete in a few weeks. Each painting will be approximately 10′ x 10′ over a 50-yard span of the trail.
A small portion of the trail was closed beginning Monday morning to allow Petersen to complete her work without interruption. Users can still access and utilize the trail by simply going around the project site on the grass.
Van Helden said the response from residents and visitors alike to the trail paintings has been very positive. The town’s Public Art Committee hopes to continue adding another set of paintings each year.
“We’re used to seeing murals or sculptures out, but trail paintings is a little bit of a surprise,” Van Helden said. “It really is something unique and special, and it’s an expression of each individual artist, but then also of our community as a whole.”
According to Van Helden, the success of the trail painting campaign spurred the committee to draft a “public art plan” that looks to expand Ledgeview’s community art initiatives into other areas of art and get more residents involved.
Comments