The Norfolk Community Association will unveil the second sculpture in its proposed Norfolk Sculpture Trail, Friday, June 28, at 6:00 p.m. on the Village Green.
For the new addition the Community Association selected a lotus blossom, a collaborative work by Norfolk sculptor Elizabeth Knowles and Eric David Laxman of Valley Cottage, N.Y. Both artists will be on hand at the dedication and will discuss the genesis of the work.
The group unveiled its first sculpture, the Owl of Good Fortune by Jon Riedeman, last September on Robertson Plaza.
“We usually start speaking to the artists two years in advance and they submit a sketch that we use for fundraising,” said Doreen Kelly, who co-chairs the Community Association with Barry Webber. “But in this case, it was an existing work that member Walter Godlewski knew about.”
She explained that Knowles “was the creative force behind the design” and that it was executed by Laxman. It has previously been displayed in Manhattan.
Unlike the cast bronze owl, “this piece uses modern materials and is kind of a whimsical and magical piece,” according to Kelly. “They chose a lotus because we were just coming out of Covid and the lotus is a symbol of renewal.”
The association hopes to install one new piece each year to create a sculpture trail through the town’s center. “The whole purpose of the trail is to create connectivity between the different sections of town because it is largely divided by Route 44,” Kelly explained.
Eventually, there will be a map to guide walkers, but for the moment each new sculpture will be placed in a location that enhances it. “We want to be very sensitive to the beauty of Norfolk as it is,” Kelly said. “We don’t want to create anything that looks like too much. We’ll know when there is enough.”
Money for the projects comes from fundraising drives held once or twice a year. “We get a nice response from that and then we reach out to local grant-giving organizations that know the work we do,” Kelly explained.
The Community Association wants the money to stay in Norfolk and local artists are commissioned to create the pieces.