PORT ANGELES — For the first time, visitors to Webster’s Woods, the 5-acre art park surrounding the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, will have a chance to vote for their favorite new works of art.
In the 14th annual Art Outside season, a fresh crop of sculptures will be added to the park this summer — a welcome party is set for June 23 — so artists are invited to send in their proposals now.
Robin Anderson, executive director of the arts center, is urging sculptors to visit www.PAFAC.org, read the “Call to Artists” page and submit proposals before the May 26 deadline.
Twelve artists will be selected to install a piece in Webster’s Woods; each will receive an $800 stipend.
Art Outside, begun in summer 2000 by then-director Jake Seniuk, is a wedding of art and nature. Sculptures, weavings and paintings dot the meadow, adorn the trees and follow the walking paths.
So Webster’s Woods, open to the public daily from dawn until dusk, has become a haven for locals and visitors alike, as well as a place where artists collaborate with the natural world.
“It’s wonderful exposure,” Anderson said. “Jake has really built the reputation of the park.”
The 12 selected works of art will be installed during the week of June 16 in time for the June 23 opening celebration. They will remain in the park until June 2014, when artists may either remove them or donate them to the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center.
Once the works are in the woods, art lovers will be encouraged to take part in the people’s choice balloting.
Anderson said PAFAC.org, will be the place to vote; the winning artist will receive a $1,000 cash prize.
Art Outside 2013 is funded by the fine arts center’s “New Artitude” benefit held in the fall, and by support from Green Crow and the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce, Anderson added.
This year’s Art Outside opening will come on the heels of “Re Creation,” the center’s first community sculpture project.
Anderson and community education contractor Karen White introduced this project in a discussion at The Landing mall last month, and are now planning a public design workshop at the fine arts center at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 1, and construction of the sculpture, on the green in front of the center on Lauridsen Boulevard,
June 12-15.
“That will be a fun way to launch a summer of outdoor sculptures,” Anderson said of the free community project.
“We’ll also have our first summer camp; there are a lot of outdoor things going on,” she added.
The center plans “Eco-tivities” day camps for 7- to 12-year-olds from June 24-28, July 8-12 and Aug. 12-16.
For information about the summer camps, the community sculpture project and other activities at the center, see PAFAC.org, phone 360-457-3532 or visit the center’s gallery, 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd., between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
