Title: Peacehaven Community Farm Sensory Space
Artist: Cynthia Frank and Carrie Gault
Year: 2016
Medium: Mosaic
Location: LeBauer Park, Children's Garden
The Peacehaven Community Farm Sensory Space is a sculpture with a variety of interactive elements for all children, with a special focus on children with sensory differences. Located at the center of LeBauer Park, this sculpture was commissioned in 2015 and completed in August 2016.
The curved wall is angled to create overhangs for handicap access; a playful mosaic “wave” uses bright colors to pop off the 2D surface and invite visitors to run their hands along the wall. The components of the sculpture introduce motion and sound with engraved words that offer opportunities for vocalization. The handmade mosaic mandalas address each of the 5 senses. The holes in the wall create a view to the other side and the hidden tiles encourage an active exploring treasure hunt. If you peek through the center to the other side of the wall, you will see your reflection in the mirror tiles.
It is estimated that up to 80% of children with a disability may be oversensitive (or undersensitive) to stimulation of any of the senses. For someone with significant sensory processing disorder, sensory signals received by the brain may become garbled and disorganized, which can disrupt everyday life. Sensory spaces can help make these experiences less disruptive.
The Artists
The Peacehaven Sensory Space was designed by artists Cynthia Frank and Carrie Gault with help from a diverse leadership team, a sensory consultant, and children with disabilities and
their families. Cynthia Frank and Carrie Gault work together as PAC3, a public art partnership based on a mutual interest in dynamic form/space relationships. The Peacehaven Community Farm Sensory Space had the honor of being selected by the Society of American Mosaic Artists juried show for their Mosaic Arts International 2017 Site-specific Mosaic Exhibition.
Cynthia Frank -Cynthia has taught and served at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, The Yale School of Art, Central Piedmont Community College, and The University of North Carolina Charlotte. Cynthia also has served on the Board of Founders’ Circle Affiliate of the Mint Museum Craft + Design, as Design for Good Manager on the Board of AIGA Charlotte, and as a chief designer for The Wall Poems of Charlotte, a public mural project that celebrates North Carolina’s literary heritage. With her sister, Jessica Flaxman, she co-founded and art-directed Papique! Paper With A Punch, an original stationery line sold in stores across the country.
Carrie Gault- Carrie Gault has been designing sculptures for over 20 years. She focuses on creating public art from design through fabrication and installation in which her work tours the internal and external connections to the world in the forms of memory, identity, community, and place. Her masterpieces have been known for having sensitivity to community, site, and environment. Her studio focuses on creating large-scale, public work and two and three-dimensional pieces that emphasize intimacy. Mosaics and tile are her primary mediums, but she also works with concrete and glass. "I believe in art's power to define a space and a time, and wish only that my work contributes to this power, and brings a little happiness to those that encounter it." said Carrie. She has public art projects in Charlotte, Greensboro, Pineville, Miami, Fla., and Floyd, Va. She is a mosaic instructor and a former architecture student and professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
A huge thank you goes out to our public art consultant and project manager, Cheryl Stewart, many folks at The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, our Leadership Team, and the many artists and families who contributed to the creation of this unique work of art.
Comments