Medina board asked to allow art installations at 3 village parks

Medina Triennial trying to finalize sites for big art initiative from June to September

Photos by Tom Rivers: Leaders of the Medina Triennial attended Monday’s Medina Village Board meeting to ask the board for its approval to place three art installations at village sites – State Street Park, Rotary Park and Gulf Street Park. Matt Hollenback is the Triennial’s head producer and Karin Laansoo is the co-artistic director.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of the article listed four of the artists’ names. Those names have since been removed because the Medina Triennial said it could jeopardize the sponsorships for the installations. The names of the artists will be released in March or April.

MEDINA – The village will be hosting a major arts event from June to September that is expected to bring 50,000 visitors to the community.

The debut of the Medina Triennial will feature works from 35 different artists at 12 sites in the community.

Leaders of the Triennial want at least three of the installations to be at village parks. The Medina Village Board will decide at its Jan. 26 whether it approves having installations at State Street Park, Rotary Park and Gulf Street Park.

The Triennial will have insurance for the installations during the event from June 6 to Sept. 7. Some of the artists would be willing to have the installations stay permanently in Medina, said Karin Laansoo, co-artistic director for the Triennial.

Karin Laansoo, co-artistic for the Medina Triennial, said several renown artists have projects coming to Medina. Laansoo is working to firm up all the locations to house the art installations. She wants they all within a 15-minute walk of each other.

She and Matt Hollenback, the Triennial’s head producer, attended Monday’s Village Board meeting to ask for the board’s approval for having the installations on village-owned land. The board will decided on Jan. 26 and also take comments from the public.

At State Street Park, the Triennial wants to have barnacles resting on top of four slate boulders. Barnacles are strong indicators of water quality and the sculpture symbolizes the power of natural materials to filter and purify water. The sculpture will be created in Buffalo and transported into Medina.

The artist making this sculpture created a similar piece for a biennial in the United Kingdom, Laansoo said.

At Gulf Street Park, an artist wants to create a sculpture stacked with stone pillars. The artist is working with students from the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning. They want to locate unused Medina Sandstone, scan that in 3D and assemble the stone into precise sculptures through computational processes.

Mark Prawel, a Medina village trustee, said the sculpture will result in extra work for the DPW to mow around the objects.

At Rotary Park, the Triennial wants to feature a shed-like sculpture filled with handmade objects for birds, including nesting materials and perches.

The shed is 7 feet tall and about 4 ½ feet wide. The sculpture will have a protective plexiglass screen attached to the front to protect the contents inside. Laansoo said this sculpture is whimsical and shows the artists’ sense of humor.

The Triennial is looking for a location for a footprint walkway that will be a pathway with a message. While the walkway is constructed, there will be performers singing the popular Erie Canal song, “Low Bridge Every Down.”

The Triennial is an initiative of the New York Power Authority and the State Canal Corporation as part of an effort to revitalize the Erie Canal. This year will be the debut of the Medina Triennial, with a second triennial to follow in 2029.

An initial group of artists will be announced in early March, with the complete list released in April. More than a third of the included artists will be from Western New York and the Rust Belt, Medina Triennial officials said.