Marianna Outdoorsmen host Washington County art installation tour
Courtesy of Rural Arts Collaborative
Jim Simon created this art installation at Palmer Park in Donora.
Courtesy of Rural Arts Collaborative
Laura Jean McLaughlin created this art installation at Century Inn in Scenery Hill.
From left, are James Denova, vice president of the Benedum Foundation; Hiromi Katayama, artist; James Simon, artist; Carmelle Nickens, Founder of Rural Arts Collaborative; Laura Jean McLaughlin, artist; and Codi Yoders Vanata, artist.
Courtesy of Rural Arts Collaborative
Courtesy of Rural Arts Collective
Codi Yoders Vanata created this art installation at the Marianna Outdoorsmen Association building in Marianna.
Editor’s Note: This story originally ran in the Sept. 1 edition of the Observer-Reporter.
The Marianna Outdoorsmen Association recently hosted a tour of art installations located at venues across Washington County.
The tour, which was held Aug. 22, included art installations at six locations.
The first stop on the tour was at the Century Inn in Scenery Hill before moving on to MOA Fish Park and the MOA building in Marianna. The tour then proceeded to Donora with a stop at Palmer Park before moving to the Mon City Aquatorium in Mononogahela with a final stop where it started at the Century Inn.
Artists Laura Jean McLaughlin, Hiromi Katayama, James Simon and Codi Yoders Vanata all produced works, which were included at various stops on the tour.
The art installations included in the tour were made possible through a $175,000 grant the Marianna Outdoorsmen Association received from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to restore signage and enhance trails between the towns along the Marianna – Monongahela corridor in Washington County.
“The heart of what we fund is exactly what MOA will be implementing in this region – restoring and beautifying trails and towns with public art, while promoting sustainable commerce and recreation in the region,” said James Denova, vice president of the Benedum Foundation.
The Marianna Outdoorsmen Association worked with five artists from the Rural Arts Collaborative on the project including Simon, McLaughlin, Katayama, Yoders Vanata and Frank Morgan. The project restored deteriorated signage and enhanced buildings along the trail with interior and exterior public art murals.
“This project has been a long-term vision of the MOA whose mission is to promote the area’s natural resources, raise awareness of the outdoor activities in local communities, and to help educate youth about their environment and the community in which they reside,” according to a news release from the Marianna Outdoorsmen Association. “Several schools, among them Ringgold and Beth-Center, will conduct field trips to the project sites to see the artists at work and lend a hand to the work beside the artists.”
The towns included in the project are Marianna, Ellsworth, Cokeburg, Donora, Beallsville and Monongahela.
“We are excited and grateful to receive the support of the Benedum Foundation to help us promote our resources to help educate our youth, revitalize our trails and buildings to foster a more sustainable tourist economy in this area,” said Jason White, one of Marianna Outdoorsmen Association’s founders.