Athens Art Bench
Donation protected
A group of community-minded women have developed a project to celebrate the natural beauty and culture of Athens County while providing opportunity for regional artists to showcase their talent. “The Art Bench Project” will produce one-of-a-kind art benches, to be installed along the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway, providing a lasting tribute to the history and rural culture of Athens County as well as unique resting spots for community and visitors to experience contemplation and renewal.
Sandra Sleight-Brennen: A Special Friend
A special friend, Sandra Sleight-Brennan was an original member of this project and it is through her vision that we wish to honor her with the construction and installation of this first bench. Sandra's vision of course reached well beyond this project. Her lifetime of achievements included so many areas of interest. Environmentalist, historian, story-teller, patron of the arts and the list goes on. As a group we lovingly call this "The Sandra Bench”, we hope to have it be a place of respite and quiet thought, not only to remember and honor Sandra, but also to strive to be the kind of person that Sandra exemplified.
How can you help?
Every donation will make us one step closer to our "Sandra Bench". We are hoping all people touched by Sandra in some way will join us in creating a lasting tribute to Sandra. This bench will be a space where people can reconnect with nature and with love ones.
Please share with family and friends!
Follow us!
https://www.facebook.com/theartbenchproject/
Thanks!
The Site
The bench will be along the bikepath across the Hocking river from West Union park. The site overlooking fields and wetlands that are full of birds, frogs and bugs. The site is best described by Todd Morrow, one of the artists:
“As I walked the Athens bike path, I could not help but think the this strip of blacktop does far more than serve as a connection of two or more places where you ride from one to the next. The bike path connects two worlds, one natural the other manmade. The bike path is a causeway that allows one to reconnect with nature if only for a little while.
We want this proposed bench to reflect that connection, a marriage between the manmade and the natural. We chose the location for the bench as it is literally at a junction, two separate roads joining into one. The bench will do the same, join man made design elements with natural design elements. The bench will be wide enough to seat a family of four, a place for multiple people to reconnect with each other or to the natural world."
Joel Prince
The Bench
As you can see in one of the concept sketches the bench will join man made design elements with natural design elements. The bench will be constructed of steel with welded connections. In keeping with the spirit of Sandra the consumate recycler, we will use recycled composite material in the seat and arm rest. Composite is also more user friendly as it does not soak up rain water and it doesn't retain heat and burn like other materials can.
The size of the bench is just right for a family or group of friends to sit and reconnect with both friends and nature.
The Artists and Resolve Studio
Todd Morrow
Geoff Schenkel
Resolve Studio
"Those who step inside, choosing to join in, enter into a place that is on first glance a painting/art studio, but will soon DISCOVER, that it is also part sewing room, woodworking shop, not quite a laboratory, not a library in the strict sense of the word but something of a reading room, or a study, maybe with a touch of a semi-public resource center sprinkled in for good measure.
It is partly a fabrication shop, it’s a little bit archival, a bit of a warehouse, it’s not without industrial touches, and with a smidgen of WHIMSY thrown in, it at times reminds me of a barn, with an organic quality you might recall from playing in a childhood tree house, and though it feels dusty, dirty, and isn’t for everyone, it ultimately never strays far from what, with reverence, I call HOME!"
So--please help us create a loving tribute to Sandra, a remarkable woman whose love and spirit touched all of us deeply. Thank you!
Sandra Sleight-Brennen: A Special Friend
A special friend, Sandra Sleight-Brennan was an original member of this project and it is through her vision that we wish to honor her with the construction and installation of this first bench. Sandra's vision of course reached well beyond this project. Her lifetime of achievements included so many areas of interest. Environmentalist, historian, story-teller, patron of the arts and the list goes on. As a group we lovingly call this "The Sandra Bench”, we hope to have it be a place of respite and quiet thought, not only to remember and honor Sandra, but also to strive to be the kind of person that Sandra exemplified.
How can you help?
Every donation will make us one step closer to our "Sandra Bench". We are hoping all people touched by Sandra in some way will join us in creating a lasting tribute to Sandra. This bench will be a space where people can reconnect with nature and with love ones.
Please share with family and friends!
Follow us!
https://www.facebook.com/theartbenchproject/
Thanks!
The Site
The bench will be along the bikepath across the Hocking river from West Union park. The site overlooking fields and wetlands that are full of birds, frogs and bugs. The site is best described by Todd Morrow, one of the artists:
“As I walked the Athens bike path, I could not help but think the this strip of blacktop does far more than serve as a connection of two or more places where you ride from one to the next. The bike path connects two worlds, one natural the other manmade. The bike path is a causeway that allows one to reconnect with nature if only for a little while.
We want this proposed bench to reflect that connection, a marriage between the manmade and the natural. We chose the location for the bench as it is literally at a junction, two separate roads joining into one. The bench will do the same, join man made design elements with natural design elements. The bench will be wide enough to seat a family of four, a place for multiple people to reconnect with each other or to the natural world."
Joel PrinceThe Bench
As you can see in one of the concept sketches the bench will join man made design elements with natural design elements. The bench will be constructed of steel with welded connections. In keeping with the spirit of Sandra the consumate recycler, we will use recycled composite material in the seat and arm rest. Composite is also more user friendly as it does not soak up rain water and it doesn't retain heat and burn like other materials can.
The size of the bench is just right for a family or group of friends to sit and reconnect with both friends and nature.
The Artists and Resolve Studio
Todd MorrowGeoff SchenkelResolve Studio
"Those who step inside, choosing to join in, enter into a place that is on first glance a painting/art studio, but will soon DISCOVER, that it is also part sewing room, woodworking shop, not quite a laboratory, not a library in the strict sense of the word but something of a reading room, or a study, maybe with a touch of a semi-public resource center sprinkled in for good measure.
It is partly a fabrication shop, it’s a little bit archival, a bit of a warehouse, it’s not without industrial touches, and with a smidgen of WHIMSY thrown in, it at times reminds me of a barn, with an organic quality you might recall from playing in a childhood tree house, and though it feels dusty, dirty, and isn’t for everyone, it ultimately never strays far from what, with reverence, I call HOME!"
So--please help us create a loving tribute to Sandra, a remarkable woman whose love and spirit touched all of us deeply. Thank you!
Organizer
Chris Fahl
Organizer
Athens, OH
