Path Pals is the outdoor interactive art installation I made for ArtPath 2021 here in Lansing. I was one of 20 artists selected by the Lansing Art Gallery for this project, which places art installations long Lansing’s River Trail. The process started with me submitting a proposal, including a rough concept design (see below).
I designed the piece to be interactive (which was encouraged in the submission guidelines). Path Pals acts as a double-sided “photo frame” for visitors. They stand inside a “monster’s mouth” and have their picture taken. Visitors are then encouraged to share their photos to social media with the tag #ArtPathPals.
Upon being selected I was awarded a $1000 stipend to cover costs. I contacted Pline Craftsman Co. to help me build the wooden frame that made up Path Pals (and with the installation process later). Then, I started painting, painting, painting.
The finished piece ended up being approximately six feet tall by 3 3/4 ft wide, the largest piece of art I ever created to date. I painted Path Pals with exterior acrylic house paint, which was a far cry from my usual watercolor.
My site was number 18 on ArtPath, which put Path Pals at the Elm Park baseball diamond. ArtPath opened on June 1 2021 and goes until August 31 2021.