Growing Art
story by Donna Hecker & photography by Talitha Schroeder
Not all farms grow food. We found one where artists plant sculpture and fill the air with music or construct porches for discussion; where the land itself is a canvas for restoration and renewal, exploration and reflection.
On a tract of land in Frankfort, Ky., wedged between an old country byway and a four lane highway, artist Melanie VanHouten has spent the last 13 years reimagining her family farm while honoring its heritage and the memory of her grandmother Josephine.
Josephine Sculpture Park is a large-scale work of art. Grieving her grandmother’s death and the possible loss of their farm, Melanie returned to the land to heal and started to picture a place where sculptures might replace hay bales. Where children could roam as she had, and families could explore the mowed paths, and everyone could touch art, or stand inside it, or even create their own.
JSP is open 365 days a year, from dawn until dusk. Admission is free. Artists-in-residence come and go; their works might stay a little longer. A few pieces may never leave the park.
A thriving ecosystem of volunteers, business sponsors and non-profits has sprung up with the art. An early collaborator was Lazy Dog Honey, which installed hive boxes brightly painted by children. Bluebirds of Central Kentucky erected birdhouses. The Frankfort Audubon Society monitors the bird population. Students from the NAACP chapter at Kentucky State University and the school’s forestry and natural resources programs have helped with meadow restoration. Eagle Scout prospects cleared an overgrown farm pond and built a shelter called a nature nook.
Art at JSP began and continues with the restoration of the land itself. Clearing invasive species, planting native wildflowers, watching a majestic Chinquapin oak emerge from its crowded understory, revered by Melanie and others as the Grandmother Tree in memory of Josephine herself.
Layered upon this living stage are unlimited opportunities for creativity. JSP has hosted Shakespeare plays, starry night walks, family art activities, art and nature camps. The upcoming Symphonic Stroll with the Lexington Philharmonic provides an approachable way to enjoy music in a casual, outdoor setting, especially for kids or multi-generational groups. Program director Jeri K. Howell hints at a hidden surprise in store for symphonic strollers this year.
A new piece, four years in the making, is an installation intended to be a space for conversation, observation, introspection and evaluation. Five five-sided wooden decks, bridged by walkways, will each eventually anchor a five-sided table. Titled The Porch Project: Take It to the Bridge, a reference to a lynching on Frankfort’s Singing Bridge, the work by Heather Hart is meant to be a gathering place. That it’s also an accessible way to birdwatch and view the park was intentional as well.
Peyton Scott Russell’s GRAPHOLOGYHENGE is described as a “sanctuary for graffiti artists.” Guests are encouraged to bring a can of paint and add their own mark to one of the concrete walls enclosing a tall jumble of alphabet letters, a sort of modern Tower of Babel.
Those of us lucky enough to live near JSP can explore the park at will, returning as the mood and temperature and time of year strike us. Visitors from farther afield can find lots of tips on the JSP website, including maps and a scavenger hunt. Don’t let the weather, unless it’s truly extreme, deter you. There is no bad time to be lost in the whimsy and wonder of wandering JSP’s paths, randomly or not.
Not all farms grow food. At least not the kind that fills our stomachs. The farm that is now Josephine Sculpture Park provides a different sort of food. It’s food that feeds our brains, quickens our hearts, soothes our souls. Because none of us lives by bread alone.
Some extra scenes from Josephine Sculpture Park —
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