In the summer of 2023, Dublin will be adding another piece of public art to their collection that includes over 60 large and small scale pieces.
The Boat in the Field was conceptualized by Ilan Averbuch, a public artist based in Long Island City, New York, and he will receive $150,000 for the piece. Averbuch’s projects are made of natural materials, often recycled. The Boat in the Field will be created from recycled and Ohio industrial materials, such as stone and Cor-ten weathering steel. The sculpture will be 25 feet tall, 18 feet wide, and 15 feet deep; the form being a skeletal structure appearing to lift a petrified stone boat high into the air. The boat will appear to weightlessly float along, as if the beams rose out of a nearby pond and are walking away with the boat.
“I find Ilan’s proposed artwork alluring,” said David S. Guion, Executive Director of the Dublin Arts Council in a statement. “It raises my curiosity level and promotes discussion, interpretation and response.”
The piece will be permanently installed at the Dublin’s M.L. “Red” Trabue Nature Reserve, a 90-acre park with entrances located at 6835 Avery-Muirfield Drive & 6566 Post Road in Dublin, Ohio. The setting is known for its boardwalk, and pond for fishing and observation. There’s also amphibian-filled vernal pools, an arboretum, walking and biking paths, and the historic Fleming cabin, built in 1865.
Averbuch’s artwork is featured in public spaces and collections in the United States, Canada, Israel, India and Europe. This will be his first piece in Ohio.
The Dublin Art in Public Places program was started in 1988 and currently valued at $3.8 million. The program is one of the community initiatives funded by a 6% tax on every overnight stay in one of Dublin’s hotels.
For more information, visit dublinarts.org.