A sculpture garden is in the works for Bergen and Buchanan parks through a collaboration among several organizations.
Sculpture Evergreen is working with the Evergreen Park & Recreation District, Center for the Arts Evergreen and Denver Mountain Parks to bring this dream to fruition. One sculpture, Spirit of the Rockies by Evan Kosta, already has been placed along the trail near Bergen Parkway.
The sculpture garden will tie into a sculpture garden that Center for the Arts Evergreen has planned near its building, and a crosswalk from the gallery to Bergen Park was recently completed, thanks to the Evergreen Local Improvement District and Jefferson County. The sculptures will continue through Bergen Park and through Buchanan Park, where sculptures already are located by the ponds.
Evergreen Newcomers and Neighbors have installed a bench near the Spirit of the Rockies sculpture — just adding to the number of organizations collaborating on the effort.
Tricia Rosenthal, Sculpture Evergreen president, said it would take years for the sculptures to be placed, and the organization’s board is creating a five-year plan as it determines which of the 40 sculptures in its permanent collection can be moved, which would look right and what it would take to move them.
“This has been really exciting,” Rosenthal said. “I feel really good with how well we’re working with all these organizations. We have overlapping goals.”
The sculpture garden is a win for the organizations and the community.
“I think in the back of the minds of those who have been on the (Sculpture Evergreen) board is whether we could find a place where we can install a sculpture garden or walk like they have in other communities,” she explained.
While the organization has permanent and temporary sculptures placed across Evergreen, sometimes the locations are not accessible to the public or they are on private property, so the sculptures can’t stay permanently.
“One of our ongoing challenges that we have is to try to find locations for our sculptures that are very accessible and where we can count on leaving them for the span of the life of the sculpture — 25 to 50 years,” Rosenthal said. “It’s very expensive to move them. We also want to be cognizant of what the setting is for the sculptures. We have always tried to find good locations for the sculptures, and sometimes those are scarce.”
Monty Estis, president of the Evergreen Park & Recreation District board, said the sculpture garden will provide another amenity for the community.
“Our interests are the same,” Estis said. “They want to display their artwork, and we want patrons to enjoy our parks. It’s mutually beneficial for both organizations.”
He called the plan something wonderful for the community.
“For years, EPRD has been incredibly supportive of placing sculptures by the lake and the ponds,” Rosenthal said. “Every time I drive by (Bergen and Buchanan parks), I think, `Here we are in a largely developed part of Evergreen. Couldn’t we put a couple sculptures along the trail on public land?’ We would continue to maintain and clean them, and we would have a stable site.”
Sculpture Evergreen also has been working with Denver Mountain Parks, which owns Bergen Park, to install sculptures along the walkways, and DMP has been receptive to the plans, she said.
Lisa Nierenberg, executive director of Center for the Arts Evergreen, said the collaboration with Sculpture Evergreen makes sense. Two Sculpture Evergreen sculptures from its annual sculpture walk were installed last year at CAE, dovetailing with CAE’s sculptures.
“We are a wonderful arts community, and Sculpture Evergreen is doing a wonderful job of creating a sculpture walk throughout Evergreen,” Nierenberg said.