New developments on local Arts Trail

Easton was one of nine cities across the country granted federal money to cultivate local arts, creativity and civic engagement, and Easton has used this money to fund the Karl Stirner Arts Trail. 

The arts trail was named after Karl Stirner, a local artist and one of the attendants at the September 27 panel discussion. The panel, held at the Williams Visual Arts Building Grossman Gallery, was assembled to showcase the proposals of artists at Lafayette and in Easton.

The panel included Clapp Professor of Art Ed Kerns, Sam Strong ‘12 and Nurture Nature Director Rachel Hogan Carr. It was assembled by Professor and Director of the Community-Based Teaching Program Jim Toia.  

Proposals were submitted by photographer Luke Wynne, the Mellon Fellows of Lafayette and artists Nancy Cohen, William Lamson and Lauren Rosenthal. 

Currently, there are two permanent sculptures on the trail, but more will be installed based on the panel’s decisions. 

The Mellon Fellows submitted a Dissolving Ziggurat sculpture and a Rain Spiral, which emphasizes the golden ratio in the natural world.

Another proposal featured was Lamson’s railroad bridge garden, a wild bamboo jungle in the middle of the gallery.

In addition to the trail’s potential additions, the panelists discussed the Bushkill Creek’s importance to the project.  

Professor Kerns equated the area’s history with the Creek with a “Renaissance modeling experience” where people romanced the stream for its beauty so long ago. He mentioned that the Bushkill powered printing presses and silk mills as well of the dark times of the 1970s and 80s when chemicals colored the water.

The panel also recognized the importance of interdisciplinary work. The “human capacity to understand science and art and how it connects to daily busy life’s industry and commerce” is essential to harmony between disciplines, Carr said. 

 “Common language through the disciplines can be through public art bringing us all together,” Toia said. 

At the discussion’s end, people milled about the gallery exploring the proposals. Light refreshments and chances to talk one-on-one with panel members concluded the evening.