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"Everything the eye can see," a poetic definition of landscape, defines the territory for this project for Elkhorn City, a town of 800 people in the east Kentucky Mountains.
Standing near the Cantrell auto bridge at the largest intersection in town, where Russell Street and South Center Street cross the Russell Fork River, the eye can see the Trestle footbridge leading to the Railroad Museum on the opposite shore, to the few small brick buildings left on Main Street, and to the banks of the Russell River where whitewater rafters disembark during October's high water season before enjoying a cup of coffee at the Rusty Fork Caf' or a pizza dinner at Giovanni's.
Between Land and Water focuses on townspeople's personal experience of their land as a site of heritage and as a generator of regional wealth and their river as an indicator of ecological health and as a moving force that connects them, upstream and down, with the rest of the country. Conceived by the Elkhorn City Heritage Council, the public art project sits between a need for collective stewardship of the region's natural resources and a dream of a tourist economy that preserves the natural environment
Extending over several years and site visits by artists and students from as far away as Japan, this project consists of finding funding, designing plans, and implementing a public artwork by local residents that will (1) revitalize the waterfront with pocket parks and a bird sanctuary, (2) develop a mini-wetlands demonstration project, (3) vitalize a walking path through the town, and (4) connect this local effort to regional and national resources.
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