Q: “Who is responsible for repairing and maintaining the Voigt family sculptures? Can citizens or the Healdsburg Department of Public Works help?”— Edward Ng, Healdsburg
A: The Voigt Family Sculpture Foundation is looking to expand its public art installations throughout Sonoma County, and improve the process for preserving and maintaining each piece.
For Healdsburg, the plan is to involve the work of local high school students. Judy Voigt, who began the foundation in 2005 with her late husband Al Voigt, said the problem is scheduling in advance, since for students it’s considered a field trip, being outside the campus.
Due to continuous rainy weather, it’s been nearly impossible of late.
“We also want to go and work on a long-term plan,” Voigt said, “which is why we’ve gotten the high school involved. We’re going to start with some easy stuff we think they can do.”
Voigt has been working with artist Doug Unkrey, sculptor of the giant hammer stolen at the Healdsburg Community Center last year, and high school art teacher Linus Lancaster, to prepare a new temporary art exhibit in the West Plaza Park area by Bear Republic.
The foundation wants to have it up on Earth Day, April 22, to line up with International Sculpture Day on April 27.
Lancaster, who teaches as part of the Construction Art and Sustainability Academy, is excited to have his students involved again in more projects.
“We did an installation down there at the end of last year,” Lancaster said, “which we thought was successful. It was small concrete sculptures that were done by the students.”
Another challenge with temporary public art pieces is maintaining a preservation and cleanup process, which involves the city’s help to take care of things such as graffiti.
In cases where more repair work needs to be done, Voigt would like to have students assist.
In an effort to make things more like an educational experience, Unkrey is going to come into one of Lancaster’s classes this week, talk to students about the painting process and possibly touch on aspects of how the city handles cleanup work, and what goes into it.
“It’s not an expensive paint, it’s a really simple class of paints, and Healdsburg sources it,” said Environmental Designer Gregory Pagel, who has helped repaint sculptures like “Slice,” a metal piece resembling swiss cheese created by Robert Ellison in Windsor, which is at Keiser Park off Windsor River Road.
Olivia Lemen, management analyst for the Town of Windsor, said it’s been a fun and playful piece of art to bring in the city.
“Sculptures bring an additional element of culture and character,” Lemen said.
Many members of the Healdsburg community enjoy seeing the sculptures on the Foss Creek Trail, especially on their lunch breaks taking an afternoon walk.
However, the main concerns seem to be how long it will take to repair them, or how far down they will spread.
Healdsburg resident Edward Ng has noticed the sculptures across the street from the fire station, which includes a blue couch done in tiles and a telephone next to it, had been vandalized. Someone broke off part of the handset, making him worry about the rest.
“It’s a real bonus for us in Healdsburg for us to have art like that,” said Ng, “that we can encounter every day, and not have to go to a museum or art gallery.”
Russ Harding, a Healdsburg resident of 35 years, appreciates how much is readily available to see on Foss Creek, but said he wishes the city would see it all the way through to Dry Creek.
Voigt confirmed there are will be new parts around Foss Creek Creek Trail. The projects are going to go all the way up to the Community Services Center, and down to the river, with the city also working on an arts and culture plan.
Voigt said they’re seeing how it all plays out before jumping in too fast, having to move slowly but gather ideas.
“I think it’s a terrific idea that needs to be maintained,” Harding said, “and it can’t be anything but a plus for tourism and the citizens themselves.”
Voigt Family Sculpture Foundation has works of art scattered all across Sonoma County, from Juilliard Park, Petaluma, Santa Rosa Junior College, Cloverdale, Geyserville and more. Community member Sabra Spilsbury likes seeing little bits of art splattered around.
“I’m originally from Sebastopol and they have a ton of that,” said Spilsbury. “I like looking at them. It’s always good when people have art, it makes the town more interesting.”
For a full list of installations and locations, visit the Voigt Family Sculpture Foundation’s website, celebratesculpture.com.
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