Detroit park turns art gallery, for Earth Day festivities

At the beginning of the loop, Blossoms of Royal Oak’s “Graff the Graffiti Dino” – a large dinosaur made of silver duct tape — stood among flowers and invited visitors to leave their mark.

Down the path, Camp 3 Woodworks offered an array of hand-carved wooden objects, ranging from toadstools, books and small household items, with one of their artists carving live nearby.

With a similar embrace of the natural surroundings, artist James Rodriguez sat painting a landscape, surrounded by his other paintings of the natural world hanging from trees nearby with a Henry David Thoreau-type vibe.

On the more whimsical side, artist Dale Teachout offered a pair of quirky, (sort of) anatomically correct human statues made of thrifted objects, like stuffed animals, pipes, mopheads, wheels and more. Nearby, Larry Tremaine’s animatronic “Karza, Queen of the Fire Dragons” gave court inside her lair, inviting visitors to stick their heads in her foam mouth.

On a more serious note, Mike Willenborg and Uta Brauser’s “Tesla Mortal Coil” took aim at Trump advisor Elon Musk. The work was a tall abstract statue of inventor Nikola Tesla, for whom Musk’s electric car company is named. Tesla’s face was painted on a ball at the top from which lightning-like branches protruded downward, zapping miniatures of the White House and a Tesla Cybertruck.

One of my favorite artists was Kelly O’Neill, whose work included a series of abstract female figure sculptures made of swirling metal and stained glass. O’Neill said the swirls were meant as protective armor, especially for women. A particularly swirly piece on the end featured turquoise metal molded into two circles of different heights, representing the heads of a mother and child, which exuded a sweet femininity and sense of maternal love.

The experience was joyous, calming and a great way to combine love of nature and love of art while enjoying a lovely spring day.

Published in partnership with Midbrow.