English Harbour Arts Centre Workshops and Stone Maze

The dates have been set for the two English Harbour Arts Centre workshops I will be instructing this coming summer. Five-day and two-day long courses, July 29 - August 2 and August 4 -5, will focus on constructing new dry stone walls on the grounds of the art centre. The finished works will represent pieces of a grand puzzle that EHAC hopes to realize in the near future. The dream is to build a dry stone maze on the majestic headlands of Trinity Bay.

Dry Stone Maze Proposal
by Dan Snow and English Harbour Arts Centre
A maze built of dry stone at English Harbour, Newfoundland would be an exciting landscape feature and special attraction to the Trinity Bight area. Exploring the paths and “art courts” of the maze would be an intriguing adventure for visitors of all ages. The stone maze would be offered to the public in the spirit of healthy inquiry and good fun.
The maze, designed by Dave Phillips, would cover 7,300 sq. meters of ground and have 2.5 kilometer of walls and paths. While a number of routes would allow exploration of alternative destinations within the maze, only one route would lead to its center. Along the paths, and at large open areas, art works would be displayed. 
The proposed site is approximately 2 kilometers from the bay at English Harbour. From the site, one can view a broad sweep of Trinity Bay, 40 meter-high sheer cliffs, and a natural, sea-arch grotto. Seasonal wildlife in the area includes eagles, otters, moose and whales.   
To my knowledge this would be the first, open-to-the-public, dry stone maze ever built. Dry laid stone is a method and material eminently suited to such a project. Newfoundland offers many potential sources for natural and quarried stone, suitable for dry laid construction. The finished construction would blend well with the natural surroundings and stand the test of time.
English Harbour Arts Centre's Stone Maze would be a significant piece of landscape art, attracting a wide range of public interest. Appreciated for its hand-crafted beauty, environmental sensitivity and bewildering playfulness, the stone maze would be both a contemplative and interactive work of art.   


Maze illustrations by Todd Lynch.

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Winter Walling in an Art and Nature Park

An unexpected weather-window opened up this week allowing Chuck, Jared and I to begin work on a new project. A wooded mountaintop plateau in western Connecticut is the site of an art and nature park being created by Edward Tufte. His monumental sculptures already grace the open meadows at the south end of the property. Now, a series of new dry stone walls has begun to appear along the north end of the mountain spine. Edward and I co-direct the design and layout. A team of DSWA certified craftsmen build the walls and feature pieces.

© All rights reserved Dan Snow In the Company of Stone

Authors of Dummerston

This Sunday, the "Authors of Dummerston” exhibit opens at the Historical Society Schoolhouse. The exhibit will showcase local writers. I am honored to be a part of an exhibit that includes not only Rudyard Kipling but many talented living writers as well. Stop by and check it out if you are anywhere nearby.
Details below and more information here.
"Authors of Dummerston” Exhibit  
Opening Reception
Sunday, January 15, 2-4 PM
Dummerston Historical Society Schoolhouse
Dummerston Center, VT

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Stone and Art in Nature

I will be giving a talk at the ET Modern Gallery in NYC in February.
Here is the announcement. With thanks to Edward Tufte for the invitation to give a talk. Hope to see you there.
 
ET MODERN GALLERY
547 West 20th Street, (corner of 11th Avenue)
NYC, NY
FEBRUARY 25, 2012
2 pm 

STONE AND ART IN NATURE
Vermont stone art builder Dan Snow will give a talk about outdoor art installation, the process of its creation and long-term integration into nature. The presentation includes images of Snow’s and other environmental artists’ work.

Poet Wendell Berry advises those who practice his craft to “make poems that don’t disturb the silence from which they come.” The same suggestion could be made to the builders of environmental art because their work is often performed in places that are already perfectly at peace.
Creators of outdoor art risk disturbing an existing balance when they go to work on the land. Artists in the environment might achieve their finest work by doing nothing more than pointing out the facts of what is already there. But then again, that may be work best left to poets.
Three-dimensional artists engage the physical world spatially, and the spatial world physically. In “Song of Myself”, Walt Whitman expressed a sentiment shared today by environmental art makers; “Earth! you seem to look for something at my hands.” We can’t help getting our hands dirty when our hearts open to a place on earth. 

© All rights reserved Dan Snow In the Company of Stone

Twenty-Eleven

Going back through the year 2011 in my iPhoto files, I was drawn to those depicting family and friends, new and old. Here’s a collection of recollections dear to my heart. From maple sugaring season and projects at home in Vermont and New England, to travels in Finland, Newfoundland, Norway and Denmark, the fun began when we all got together.
 
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