Riverboxes: emerging dedication
Aug. 16, 2014, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
City of Dublin Municipal Building
5200 Emerald Parkway, Dublin, Ohio
(free)
Dublin Arts Council dedicates the Riverboxes: emerging series of three new interactive artworks Aug. 16, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in conjunction with the City of Dublin’s annual Mike Utt River Cleanup Day at the City of Dublin Municipal Building, 5200 Emerald Parkway, Dublin, Ohio. CITO kits courtesy of Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) will be distributed at the event, and participants will be encouraged to pick up trash and recyclable materials found during their Riverboxing adventures. Riverboxes are small public artworks hidden in Dublin Parks with connections to the Scioto River in central Ohio. Modeled after the hobbies of letterboxing and geocaching, participants use written clues and GPS coordinates to discover the artworks and the historical and environmental information found inside each vessel.
With the dedication of the new series, the Riverboxes collection of 13 public artworks will be enrolled in geocaching.com’s “Cache In, Trash Out” (CITO) environmental initiative. Kits containing trash bags and educational information will be placed inside each Riverbox to encourage collection and disposal or recycling of waste found during outings in Dublin parks.
Emerging artists from Ohio University Chillicothe, Bowling Green State University and The University of Akron created the three new Riverboxes with guidance from their professors.
Caementum Charta Riverbox in Donegal Cliffs Park was created by Thomas Ansel of Ohio University Chillicothe. The Riverbox is placed on the site of a historic stone quarry. According to Ansel, “This Riverbox explores the relationship between natural spaces, cement sculpture and letterboxing. My wish is that each viewer is left with an epitaph for the possibilities of our culture, past, present and future.”
Nest Riverbox in Kiwanis Riverway Park was created by Julia LaBay of Bowling Green State University. The site is noted for numerous species of birds that make their homes or pass through the space. LaBay says, “The Nest Riverbox I designed and created was inspired by cliff swallow nests. I think of the nest as a home; a place of protection from the outside world.”
The Riparian Riverbox on the Dublin Arts Center grounds was created by Nathan Mayfield of The University of Akron. Inspired by the banks of the river, Mayfield’s Riverbox is intended to stand as a property landmark. “Its look is pyramidal, a classic and iconic shape contrasting the surround nature in a complementing way. Attached to its top are eye bolts for strapping a watercraft to it while beached,” explains Mayfield. “My Riverbox is looking at the microscopic scale of the natural stone that was quarried from the area in the past.”
Clues and additional information can be found at www.riverboxes.org or by calling 614-889-7444.