With its many murals, painted traffic boxes and sculptures, Augusta offers a variety of public art, and not all of it is in downtown Augusta.
Several new pieces of public art have recently been installed outside the Broad Street corridor.
While you might rightly think of Phinizy Center for Water Sciences and Nature Park for its wildlife and natural landscapes, it’s also home to several sculptures, and two new art installations were recently added.
Already home to Przemyslaw “PK” Kordys’ “Herons Duet”, as well as Chompy the Alligator and a dragonfly, “School of Fish” arrived just in time for Christmas.
Another Kordys’ design, “the sculpture features 10 fish, each designed around species found within the ecosystems of Phinizy Swamp. The bodies of the fish are composed of ceramic tiles, hand-painted by local students and community members through collaborative workshops and outreach efforts with the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, Friedman Branch Library, Wallace Branch Library, and the Richmond County Public Library,” according to a news release from the Greater Augusta Arts Council.
“School of Fish” is in the Sunrise Pond while “Herons Duet” is on the far edge.
Also at Phinizy is a new sidewalk art installation called “Bird Walk,” which welcomes visitors to the entrance to the Cattail Trail from the visitor parking lot. Heather Dunaway, the Greater Augusta Arts Council Gallery & Public Art Director and local artist, designed the installation which was painted by Dunaway and fellow staff member and graphic artist Zoe Beard-Ortiz.
“The series of stenciled birds depicts herons and egrets, which are commonly found at Phinizy. They are shown in various poses that mirror the movements of the birds, both standing and in flight,” according to a news release.
New sculptures also have a home at Pendleton King Park, 1600 Troupe St., as the first of what may become a second sculpture trail.
“’Hydrangeas’” is a series of three sculptures at the entrance of Pendleton King Park. Wesley L Stewart and Colleen Beyer-Stewart of September Art Studios created the steel sculptures and hand painted them to resemble blooming hydrangeas found throughout Pendleton King Park’s gardens, according to a third news release.
“Following a massive clean-up effort after Hurricane Helene, ‘Hydrangeas’ marks the first new public art installation since the park’s reopening and represents the beginning of what is hoped to become a future sculpture trail. The installation celebrates renewal, resilience, and growth while contributing to Augusta’s expanding public art landscape,” the release said.
And for one downtown project, Bots on Broad is still in the works. Artist Leonard “Porkchop” Zimmerman has designed the robots, and they should be making an appearance in the coming weeks. Read more about that concept here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards and is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
