Arts & Entertainment

South Mountain Gets Some New Art in the Landscape

The Wildflower Sculpture Park gets artwork from one Maplewood resident, two from Jersey City and a Brooklyn artist.

In its second year,  five more original pieces were unveiled Wednesday in the Wildflower Sculpture Park adding new art to the landscape at the South Mountain Reservation.

"Essex County South Mountain Reservation is a beautiful destination with spectacular skyline views, stunning vistas and gorgeous natural back drops," Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

The original piece of art, 'Natures Resolve' by East Orange resident Larry Dell, will also remain as permanent addition to the park next the the Essex County Dog Park. The piece was installed last November which created a pyramid-shaped work with branches and tree limbs that are tightly woven together. 

Roger Sayre, 49, of Jersey City, and Charlotte Becket, 34, of Brooklyn, said their piece 'Don't Sing to Me Any More, Cicada' was a collaboration that they worked on for the last few months. 

"I liked the idea of it having its own soundtrack," Sayre said referring to the sounds of the Cicadas that invaded New Jersey this spring. 

Becket explained the Department of Parks really lent a hand to make their piece of art — a series of hammocks strung between two trees at least 50-feet up — in the form of a cherry picker truck.

"Roger and I just stood down here squinting at the sun," she said. "It was fantastic, the guy Tim from the county was really part of the piece."

Sayre agreed, adding "It looks exactly like our sketches, which isn't usually the case."

The pair towering art work was put up in early June but they said the openings kept getting delayed.

Also selected in the addition of artwork was:

  • Maplewood resident Eric Beckerich created a 7-foot 6-inch column of stacked cubes made of mortarThe top cube has a complete design that plays with light and creates shadows. The concept is carried to the other cubes below and allows the composition to become more dynamic and compressed.
  • Jersey City resident Michelle Vitale Loughlin created 'Tornado' a 24-foot tall and 18-foot wide arrangement of nylon rope. It is intended for the sculpture to collect leaves and other material as it stand in the reservation.

"We are please to be partnering with the South Mountain Conservancy to raise awareness about our reservation and to expand the art park," said DiVincenzo.

The Wildflower Sculpture Park is a collaborative initiative by the Essex County Department of Public Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs along with the SOuth Mountain Conservancy.

He added, "The art installations on display here will provide visitors with a new reason to enjoy our open space resources and help unite the disciplines of art and nature."


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