Archived News Release: July 22, 2015 - The Arts Alliance, in cooperation with the City of Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission (AAPAC), invite you to attend the grand debut of public art along the Huron River including sculptures from the Canoe Imagine Art project, painting reproductions as part of the Detroit Institute of Art's Inside|Out program and custom made concrete sculptures of animals native to Michigan, made possible through a generous private donation.
River Art Grand Opening, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015
Celebration 6-7 p.m. at the Gallup Park Canoe Fan Site (Gallup Park public canoe launch, located off Geddes Road just east of Huron Parkway) with remarks at 6:30 p.m.
Docents available at all artworks 5-6 p.m.
Argo to Gallup River Trip – leaves Gallup Canoe Livery at 5 p.m.
The celebration will include music by Community Music School, food carts by Mity Nice Italian Ice and Oh MI Dog, an Argo to Gallup river trip and discount Twilight Paddles at Gallup Park Canoe Livery. Visitors will also have the opportunity to win discount boat rentals by visiting the various installation sites and speaking with the docents about the artworks.
Canoe Imagine Art is a public art project that repurposes canoes retired by the City of Ann Arbor as a way to celebrate the history and attributes of the Huron River and/or the city's park system.
Four works of art were selected, through a juried and public voting process, for temporary installations along the Huron River in Ann Arbor:
Broadway Park: Turbine by Missouri State Western University artists J. Neil Lawley, Heather Andrews, Jake Proffit, Dustin Lafromboise and Hausman Metal Works.
Island Park: Canoe-vue by Jeff Zischke.
Gallup Park: Canoe Fan by Victoria Fuller.
Canoe Imagine Art is supported by the Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Detroit Institute of Art's Inside|Out program features framed reproductions of three famous paintings in Ann Arbor's outdoor parks, including:
Gallup Park: Portrait of a Postman Roulin by Vincent van Gogh.
Riverside Park: A Day in June by George Wesley Bellows.
Bandemer Park: Syria by the Sea by Frederic Edwin Church.
The custom made concrete sculptures feature five animals native to Michigan: including a Tiger Salamander, Painted Turtle, Leopard Frog, Muskrat, and Canada Goose. The animals are located along the inside Gallup loop, including near the Butterfly Garden, the boat launch parking lot, the Maas picnic shelter, the east parking lot, and just south of the vehicle bridge.
Between now and the grand opening event, River Art partners invite members of the public to seek out the Canoe Imagine Art sculptures and post pictures of these artworks on social media sites. Pictures tagged with #a2riverart will be entered to win a free canoe/paddle rental. Random winners will be drawn every Friday from July 17 to Aug. 7. Tag us on your social media pages at www.facebook.com/annarbor.parks and www.a3arts.org; www.twitter.com/a2parks and www.twitter.com/TheArtsAlliance; or http://instagram.com/annarborparks and http://instagram.com/arts_alliance.
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