Remember the Environmental Art Class from Cherryland Middle School? (If not, you can read all about it here.) Wednesday was the last day of the project. It was drizzly, but an intrepid group set out for Library Hill armed with three bags of cherry pits and determination. The Village Council had harrumphed and asked some questions about the proposed designs: Will this be a temporary or permanent installation? Who will dismantle or maintain it? Will it be easily mowed around?
Hmmm. Does Andy Goldsworthy have these issues? (Yes.) So—you want to see what the Elk Rapids students created? I have two slideshows for you, one for each part of the installation. Take your pick or look at both.
Roots and branches
One piece is on Library Hill, hugging the path from the footbridge across the Elk River to the magical Island House. Everyone in Elk Rapids loves this place. The project used natural materials deeply connected to local history. I was . . . dubious. And ultimately I was surprised by my reaction to the work. You can form your own impression: Roots and Branches Slideshow.
Sticks and stones
The second piece is on the other side of the island, next to the parking lot at the Edward C. Grace Memorial Harbor. If you peer closely, you can see the stumpy remains of some shrubbery that used to line the edge of the lot.
I don’t know why it was whacked off like that and I’m content with the mystery. However, the stumps invited embellishment: Sticks and Stones Slideshow.
In a couple of weeks the participants (and observers) will cart off anything that’s left and give it a decent burial. We’re going to make a party of it, with treats. In the meantime, you’re invited to visit the Island and consider your own response to whatever you see. You can even come back in June to help us rake up the cherry pits.
Torch Lake Views 
Wendi
May 29, 2011
Nice job everyone!
Gerry
May 29, 2011
They did do well, didn’t they–and I have a feeling they might do some more pieces. I have a feeling Katherine and I might do some pieces in Torch Lake Township, too . . .
uphilldowndale
May 29, 2011
Oh Gerry, congratulations to all for doing! Village councils the world over have to worry something to death…
Love the cherry pits, are they not bio-degradable? Leave them be, let nature take its course, I’m sure Goldsworthy would.
Right, next project, Nash
http://www.ysp.co.uk/exhibitions/david-nash-exhibition
Gerry
May 29, 2011
Your enthusiasm is bracing! In all fairness, the Council had a point. Cherry pits are biodegradable all right–and bioreproducible, too, if I may coin a phrase. But we have high hopes that the squirrels and chipmunks will help us clean them up. I’m going to go investigate Nash.
Dawn
May 30, 2011
Pretty darn cool!
Gerry
May 30, 2011
Yes!
Joss
May 30, 2011
I like the stones and sticks. Maybe those shrubs were left in the hope that they would sprout again. Only willow is determined enough to do that though. And dogwood. And things that can be coppiced. They certainly were ugly before. How did they stick the stones on so they didn’t fall off. I always wonder if Andy Goldsworthy really does it all with only natural materials found on location.
Gerry
May 30, 2011
I was pretty taken with the stones and sticks myself. The artists just balanced the stones there. It was a bit of a challenge. In one or two places they added a stick as a brace. I’m pretty sure Andy Goldsworthy always uses only what’s on hand. If we’d been doing a project a little earlier in the spring we could have used pinesap and spruce gum.
Karma
May 30, 2011
I love the look of the cherry pits. They look like a nice natural-colored mulch. Hopefully nature will take care of them in one way or another and no one will have to rake them up.
Gerry
May 30, 2011
They are nice, aren’t they! It has occurred to me that perhaps the process of drying the cherry pits for bagging renders them sterile, in which case they could certainly be left right where they are without harm. Must ask Norm Veliquette. But we’ll rake them up. We said we would and we will. That’s just how we are.
Robin
May 30, 2011
Very creative. Well done! 🙂
artistatexit0
July 8, 2011
Very cool projects…I thoroughly enjoyed reading your environmental art scrapbook. I hope this will inspire a few artists to keep going in this direction.
Gerry
July 8, 2011
Thank you. I enjoyed the environmental art at your site. I’m sure that at least two of Lindy’s students will keep at it in one way or another–and I believe Katherine and I will get up to something ourselves. We have a lot of competition up at this end of Torch Lake, though, starting with snow sculptor Daugherty Johnson, but I still have those interesting chestnut burrs . . . .