Clarifier Project
2009 Is the Year of the Clarifier Sculpture
2009 is the year of the Clarifier. With the incredible support of the Lyons Community Foundation, we are working hard to get the project cooking and plan to finish the installation by September 2009! With your help!
Come learn about the progress of Lyons' only large-scale community art collaboration tile and mosaic project. The first of a series of 5 free workshops is Sunday March 29 from 1 pm - 3pm, at the Lyons Community Church, 350 Main Street, Lyons. Future workshops are on Sundays from 1 pm - 3 pm, April 12, April 26, May 17 and May 31. All workshops are at the Lyons Community Church.
Located across from the Black Bear Inn, The Clarifier Project builds upon the structure of an abandoned wastewater treatment facility tank to create a community "art park." Begun in 2003 (?) with workshops guided by and involving the members of the GAP Group, (Generationally Active People), and members of the Lyons community we have developed a simple and provocative theme: The rhythm of nature. Images of the landscape and local trees and animals blend to create 900 square foot, 360 degree cylindrical sculpture, representing the turning of the seasons and the flowing of the river. Movement and rhythm in nature are the melody upon which our lives dance. 4 large sandstone trees will mark each of the cardinal directions and represent each of the four seasons. The area between the trees will be a cacophony of delightful hand painted tiles representing images of earth, sky, birds, plants, animals that surround us and much more. The overall effect will be that of a shrine to peace within our local community and to the earth that sustains us.
The Lyons community has generously helped with time and energy to get up to this point. We have over 1000 hand-painted tiles. 200 square feet of handmade leaves created by local citizens as well as students from both the Lyons Elementary School and the Lyons Middle Senior High School. The Town of Lyons Public Works Department has cleared the area and prepared it for landscaping. Lyons' own Urban Oasis Design has created a great looking professional landscape design as a generous donation to the project. We have received funding from Boulder County Arts Alliance, Neodata Foundation, SCFD, (Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, Tier III), The Lyons Community Foundation and many local businesses and individuals. All this support feeds an effort to create a work of art and that is uniquely "Lyons."
Because of its lovely location adjacent to the highway and to the St. Vrain River we hope to draw visitors to the Clarifier Sculpture from near and far. Signage will tell the story of how this project came about as a community collaboration and was created by many individuals who came together as a circle create this one-of-a-kind shrine to peaceful balance.
The first of this new series of tile making workshops is Sunday, March 29, 1 pm - 3 pm, at the Lyons Community Church, 350 Main Street. All are welcome and the cost is free.
