Tannery Arts Center to host free public art talk & tour event featuring new sculpture installations and mural

The Tannery Arts Center is set to host a free public art event on April 22nd, showcasing a series of new public art projects produced by Arts Council Santa Cruz County in partnership with Radius Gallery, First Friday Art Tour, City of Santa Cruz Economic Development, John Stewart Company, and Artspace.

The event will include tours and artist talks, providing the public with an opportunity to learn more about the new sculptures, murals, and community engagement activities featured in the series. These works reflect artists’ responses to movement, community health and connectivity, participatory design, and the environment.

Starting at 2 pm, the free and family-friendly event will take place at the Margaret Salz Lezin Memorial Garden, located at 1070 River Street by Arts Council Santa Cruz County’s office. Each artist will speak about their art practice and process, followed by a chance to chat with the artists and friends over refreshments at Radius Gallery.

This innovative public art series is a way to pull some of the creativity that happens in art studios and behind closed doors into the public eye.

— Ann Hazels, Director of Radius Gallery.

Among the projects featured in the series is exTANt, a collaboration between public historian Kathleen Aston and media artist Yulia Gilich. This audio tour will trace historical linkages between communities who lived and worked at the Tannery Arts Center, from Indigenous peoples and former Salz Tannery workers to Tannery Art Center live/work artists.

Another featured project is Stellar Motion, a kinetic steel sculpture by Moto Ohtake, inspired by elements of nature on both a macro and micro level. Wind-driven, the sculpture provides viewers with infinite movements ranging from agitated to tranquil as weather patterns change, reminding us of our connection to the greater universe and heightening awareness of our immediate natural and built surroundings.

Also included in the series is Unlimited Language, a mural by Heejin Lee that reflects the color and substance present at the Tannery Arts Center. Lee connected with passersby and tenants while creating the mural, reflecting and listening to their experiences viewing it. She hopes that people who see the mural will feel a sense of connection and belonging, and enjoy and participate in the diverse forms of art at the Tannery.

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Heejin Lee’s Unlimited Language reflects the color and substance present at the Tannery Arts Center, a place she’s proud to call home.

(Arts Council Santa Cruz County)

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“I want people to see the beauty and feel a sense of connection and belonging when they see the mural,” says Heejin, “to feel welcome and included, and to enjoy and participate in the diverse forms of Art at the Tannery.”

(Arts Council Santa Cruz County)

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Unlimited Language is Heejin’s first solo mural in America.

(Arts Council Santa Cruz County)

For more information about the Public Art Talk & Tour event, visit the Tannery Arts Center website here.