The Olde Towne East Neighborhood Association (OTENA) is seeking neighborhood input on a new public art installation on Parsons Avenue. The project was originally announced nearly two years ago, but the artwork component was slated to come on line as a final phase in 2017 following roadwork and utility work that needed to take place first.
“OTENA has been asked to send a letter to City Hall concerning the artwork installation for the Parsons Avenue streetscape (beautification) project,” stated the administrator of the OTENA Facebook page last Wednesday. “We’d love to include some feedback from the neighborhood.”
The installation, known as “A 1000 Eyes”, was designed by Ohio-based artist Olga Ziemska who wrote in her artist statement that the piece “makes reference to the symbolism used in the carved work of artist Elijah Pierce and also the landscape of the early Mound Builders who settled in the area and built a 40 foot high mound near Bryden Road and Champion Avenue”.
If installed as planned, the piece will feature hundreds of steel rods of various lengths sticking up from the ground to mimic reeds along a riverbank, each one containing an “eye” that features either a reflective mirrored orb or a geode crystal.
“As pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers pass by the work throughout the day and night the artwork will gently glisten and visually change and move through the reflected light from the sun during the day and street lamps and automobile lights during the evening,” continues Ziemska in her artist statement. “A visual continuity will be created through the clustering and placement of the golden stainless steel rod elements throughout Parsons Avenue from Broad Street to Franklin Avenue. A 1000 Eyes also offers a flexibility in patterning and placement, which can accommodate any changes to the Parsons Avenue streetscape design plans and input of preferred placement by the community.”
For more information, or to provide your input, CLICK HERE to visit the OTENA Facebook page.