Over the past year, the idea of creating a sculpture trail in the Monadnock region has been nurtured along, albeit somewhat slowly. Initially, the Dublin Rotary Park, on Howe Reservoir, seemed a potential site for installing outdoor three-dimensional art.
To that end, Michael Manjarris, a well-known creator of sculpture installations whom I met by pure chance in Tucson, visited our area in July. We met with various interested parties, including the Grand Monadnock Rotary Club, Dublin Planning Board and Board of Selectmen, Mayor George Hansel of Keene, the Peterborough Board of Selectmen and Brad Bates, headmaster of Dublin School.
Since that time, the quest has been to find a site to install an initial sculpture, an incubator project if you will, to give the public an idea of the power of outdoor monumental art in the form of sculpture. While the Dublin Rotary Park remains a prime locus for one or more sculpture installations, a more-immediate site needs to be selected to keep the prospect of a sculpture trail alive.
Manjarris has procured on loan a particularly intriguing bronze sculpture “Ba’al & Yidhaq” from the estate of nationally known sculptor Boaz Vaadia. Under the auspices of the Grand Monadnock Rotary Club, a new outreach program of its charitable fund, Sculpture New Hampshire, has been formed. Its initial project will be the installation of the Vaadia sculpture in either Putnam Park or Boccelli Garden, both on Grove Street in the middle of Peterborough.
Enabling the installation, the charitable fund has established a designated account for that purpose with an initial matching grant funding of $3,200. Those interested in contributing to the project may make a tax-deductible donation to the Grand Monadnock Rotary Charitable Fund (with a notation “Sculpture NH” in the memo line), P.O. Box 354, Peterborough, NH 03458.
In addition to the Boaz Vaadia installation, Dublin School is the recipient of a generous $5,000 gift from a New England family foundation. Bates’ vision for creating and installing outdoor art includes enhancing the school’s cross-country ski trails with sculptures that will capture the imagination of students and visiting ski teams and hikers, as well.
Rick MacMillan is president of Grand Monadnock Rotary Club.