CONYERS — The Herald of Herons permanent art exhibit at the Big Haynes Creek Nature Center opened this month, featuring great blue heron statues designed by local students.
The exhibit includes 10 artfully decorated fiberglass statues placed along 1.7 miles of trail in the nature center at the Georgia International Horse Park.
Dawn Tanner, event manager/conservation manager at the horse park, welcomed guests, artists and family members of the young artists, saying that the exhibit project provided an opportunity for students to “showcase their talents and leave a footprint in the environmental world.”
Credit: Alice Queen
Credit: Alice Queen
“We like to think of it as a place for community wellbeing, a place where you can escape and unwind and kind of escape into the natural world,” Tanner said of the nature center. “We’ve got over 5 miles of trails you can hike, you can bike ride, you can even horseback ride… We also have a wetlands habitat where you can bring a kayak or canoe and you can explore the habitat, which is teeming with wildlife like great blue herons and other wading inhabitants. We are also an education destination. We have done a lot of work over the years to make it an ideal setting for educators.”
The nature center contracted with Icon Poly, a family-owned company from Gibbon, Nebraska, to create 10 paintable fiberglass sculptures. To bring the sculptures to life, the nature center engaged students of all ages from Rockdale County Public Schools and the homeschool sector to submit design suggestions for the statues.
More than 140 entries were collected, and a panel of judges comprised of city of Conyers staff and City Council members, the Conyers-Rockdale Council for the Arts, and Rockdale County Master Gardeners selected the top 10 winning designs. Those selections served as inspiration for the final artwork of the statues, painted by professional artists from The Sketching Pad in Olde Town Conyers.
Credit: Alice Queen
Credit: Alice Queen
Conyers Mayor Vince Evans spoke about the importance of art in a community at the exhibit opening.
“Art is an important part of any community and an essential quality of life component,” he said. “The heron exhibit today shows that you can pretty much find art, anywhere. … you can find it right here in the middle of the horse park and more specifically in the wetlands. The purpose of wetlands we are trying to protect is to provide habitats for plant and animal species and preserving natural resources for generations to come.”
Evans thanked the young artists, art and science teachers in Rockdale County, artists from the Sketching Pad and Shelli Siebert, executive director of the Conyers Rockdale Council for the Arts, for their contributions to the project. He also presented certificates to the young artists who were present for the occasion.
Credit: Alice Queen
Credit: Alice Queen
Katy King, art teacher at General Ray Davis Middle School, said it is important to help students connect their work in the art classroom to the world around them.
“When this project came up and Shelli brought it to us and told us about it, I was like, we’re going to be part of that because teaching about environmental issues that affect all of us is of vital importance, and making those connections in children’s learning is what creates our future generations and inspiration for younger generations,” she said.
Student art contest winners for the Herald of Herons art exhibit are: Kennedy Gibbs, Tionne Brown, Morgan Clark, Natalyah Jett, Izrael Bierra, Destiny Donald, Alexandria Sands, Cameron Jeffries, Ximena Torres, Allison Hart and Paula Gutierrez.
Credit: The Citizens
Credit: The Citizens
MEET OUR PARTNER
Today’s story comes from our partner the Rockdale Newton Citizen. The Rockdale Citizen and Newton Citizen publish twice weekly in print and provide daily coverage of community news, events, and sports in Rockdale and Newton Counties at RockdaleNewtonCitizen.com.
If you have any feedback or questions about our partnerships, you can contact Senior Manager of Partnerships Nicole Williams via email at nicole.williams@ajc.com.
About the Author
