SPACES

Sculpture appears in Madison landscape on SPACES trail

Curves, lines and imagination in eight original sculptures are complementing three Madison sites with expansion of the SPACES outdoor sculpture trail.

: "The Gate" stands in the SPACES trail at Dublin Park's entrance.

Madison Arts Council (MAC) is collaborating with The Arts Council in Huntsville to install the artwork.

“The first four of eight pieces of SPACES sculpture have already been installed at Dublin Park,” MAC spokesperson Laura Pope said. Three sculptures will be mounted downtown, possibly along Main Street, and one in front of City Hall. Other sculptures should arrive in about two weeks.

At Dublin, whisper benches “have a Dr. Seuss-look with a curled tube and a funnel tube that allows one person to whisper to another,” Pope said. Instead of following a theme, SPACES sculptures represent works by numerous artists across the United States who submitted photographs of existing pieces for consideration.

“For several years, different entities in Madison wanted outside sculpture. Trying to figure out all of this has been a major undertaking. It’s really a big deal for us at MAC,” Pope said. “The Arts Council has been our mentor, and they have been wonderful. SPACES is our first project together.”

“Art always sparks interest in people. Some sculptures are very abstract and people like to interpret it this way or that,” Pope said. Sculptures will bring people interested in viewing the art form to the Madison area and simultaneously find other points of interest in Madison.

The impetus started when Allison Dillon-Jauken with The Arts Council discussed SPACES at a MAC meeting. Other project affiliates and SPACES sites are Alabama A&M University, Huntsville Museum of Art, downtown Huntsville, Lowe Mill and the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Pope also acknowledged Madison Beautification and Tree Board, Tim Holcombe, Madison City Council, Mayor Paul Finley, among other helpful residents.

MAC is accepting corporate sponsors for $1,800 per sculpture, which pays an honorarium to the sculptor, along with transportation and installation costs. The Madison Public Works Department is pouring concrete pads at no charge.