Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
In collaboration with the Mountain Arts District and the Pocahontas County Artisans Co-op, the Pocahontas County Arts Council is making a plan to install a Children’s Art Trail in Marlinton.
MAD members Frank and Josie Cuda met with members of the PCAC and Co-op at McClintic Library last week to discuss the project.
Frank explained that Randolph County has several sections of a Children’s Art Trail, for which MAD sought grant funding.
“We started this project two years ago with grant money from Snowshoe Foundation and, last year, our county commission chipped in some additional money,” Frank said. “Our first year, we produced four pieces of children’s art from pieces about [the size of an eight by ten inch] and then we blew that up to four by five feet.”
This year, MAD received another Snowshoe Foundation grant and offered to use it for a trail in Pocahontas County. The co-op is also donating $400 to contribute to the trail, which will include four pieces of work this year.
PCAC president Cynthia Gurreri has worked with art teachers and students in the schools to create bright and bold pieces of art that are eligible for the art trail. The pool of potential art has been narrowed down and the final four pieces will be selected by the Marlinton Woman’s Club at the Evening with the Arts event.
Frank said once the art is selected, a high resolution copy will be sent to The Art Medium in Elkins where it will be printed on pieces of vinyl. The vinyl will be mounted on pieces of aluminum and treated with UV protective spray before the pieces are installed in Marlinton.
PCAC and the Co-op are still working out where the pieces will be installed, but plan to have them in a prominent place in Marlinton.
“Our initial thought was to put them on the fence at Southern States,” Gurreri said. “We’ve got some people we need to talk to about this before we know for sure. I think we’re still thinking in town more than out of town.”
Much like Randolph County, Frank said there is room to grow with the trail, and he plans to continue to seek grant funding for trails in Randolph, Pocahontas and other counties in the area.
Once the art is ready for installation, Frank said there will be a ceremony in which the artists will get a chance to describe their work and officially sign the piece. A plaque thanking those involved in the trail will accompany the artwork.
For more information on MAD and to see photos of the Randolph County Children’s Art Trail, visit www.madwv.com