Perrysburg’s Woodlands Park opened a new Sculpture Walk exhibition earlier this month that showcases artists from northwest Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia.
The exhibit, in its second year, features 16 sculptures in a variety of media spread along the perimeter and entry area of the downtown green space. It is funded by the Perrysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau and managed by the business Main ART-ery, and will be on display until next summer.
A selection committee was headed by Brody Walters, president of the Perrysburg Chamber of Commerce, Christine Deemer of the Sisters of St. Francis, and Robin Ballmer, director of Main ART-ery. Sculptors Glenn Zweygardt and Shawn Morin juried the selections for a $4,000 prize.
Ms. Ballmer credited the Convention and Visitor Bureau for providing funding and said the jury prize raises the level of competition and attracts interest in the program.
“I think what brought people from all over the country was the quality of work that was put in last year and the award money we pay. It is all very attractive,” Ms. Ballmer said.
“My Pi” by John Adduci was chosen for this year’s top prize. “Around the Date” by Ray Katz came in second, and “Questions” by Robert Garcia came in third.
Ms. Ballmer said artists have enjoyed displaying their works in Woodlands Park, where the sculpture field is visible to both motorists and pedestrians. The city allowed the commission to install concrete slabs as permanent display spaces in the park. Each slab also contains lighting, which makes the field visible at night.
Organizers said the outdoor setting means the sculptures interact with their environment as the seasons change. Ms. Ballmer specifically said visitors should watch how one green figurative sculpture in this year’s collection, entitled “Going Green,” evolves.
“It is painted with green John Deere paint,” she said. “It is in front of a little grove of trees, but in the fall that's going to change and the background will be colorful leaves. In the winter, it will be bare trees, and so on.”
Ms. Ballmer said the program will continually need to prove itself.
“We would like this to be an annual thing, but it all depends on the funding,” she said. “There is no guarantee there will be 2023, but we are hoping that people will let the Convention and Visitors Bureau know if they are enjoying the work. There is no guarantee for art funding ever.”
Mr. Morin, professor in the School of Art and sculpture program leader at Bowling Green State University, came to the Sculpture Walk this year out of an interest in the program as a whole.
“It has been a long time coming,” Mr. Morin said, noting the exhibition is rooted in the variety of established public art in the city of Toledo. “One of the things I like about this show is that it is in a gorgeous park. It is large and it has winding paths and everything. If you are looking at one piece, you do not necessarily see the others, so I think the spacing is good, too, as well as the quality.”
He described the selection of “My Pi” for the top jury prize as the right choice but a tough decision in a high-quality event with numerous exciting pieces.
In a statement published on Main ART-ery’s website, Mr. Adduci described the work — which is a representation of the symbol for mathematical pi — as “math on the move.” It seemingly takes steps because the symbol’s bottom part looks like legs.
“It is a big aluminum piece,” Mr. Morin said of the sculpture. “It is beautiful and it is sinuous. There is another one depicting Gandhi, a bronze piece. It is older and by Jim Havens, but still gorgeous and we thought about [rewarding] that one, too.”
First Published September 23, 2022, 2:08 p.m.
