Hall County Parks and Leisure and Vision 2030 Public Art will host a new event called Art in the Park on Fri., May 7 at Laurel Park.
The focus of the event is a ribbon cutting ceremony for Vision 2030 Public Art’s latest piece, titled Hammock Hollow. The piece includes a large, blue geometric structure with three hammock seats attached and additional hooks for visitors to attach their own seats.
The ribbon cutting is only a portion of the event. Art in the Park will also feature live music, food and beverage trucks and a Vision 2030 Public Art pop-up booth, where visitors can purchase local artwork for less than one hundred dollars.
The festivities will pause only momentarily for the ribbon cutting ceremony, with brief speeches by Hall County Commissioner Shelly Echols and Vision 2030 Public Art Steering Committee Chairman Frank Norton, Jr. The event kicks off at 6 p.m. and will wrap up at 9 p.m.
Hammock Hollow is located off the Laurel Park walking trail and provides a scenic view of Lake Lanier. The piece is the result of a collaboration between Hall County Parks and Leisure and Vision 2030 Public Art.
Allyson Everrett, Steering Committee member for Vision 2030 Public Art, said Hammock Hollow was installed in June of last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Vision 2030 members from hosting an official ribbon cutting.
“Art in the Park came out of wanting to recognize the collaboration and talk about the donation, so it just sort of became a bigger event, a free event and more of a community event,” said Everett.
Everett said her hope is that the event will bring more awareness to Vision 2030 Public Art, its purpose and its artwork.
“This event is alongside the actual Hammock Hollow structure where people will be able to enjoy it, so I think it’s a great opportunity for the broader public that may not have public art on their radar to know what we do, what we work on and maybe even walk away with an original piece of artwork,” said Everett.
Everett said the Vision 2030 Public Art Committee is still looking for artwork donations for their “pop up shop”. Local artists can drop off their donations at the Norton Agency located at 434 Green Street in Gainesville. All proceeds from the sale of the artwork will go to Vision 2030 Public Art to help with the construction of the next piece.
