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Public Art at Blue Ridge Road
With funding from the 2017 Transportation bond, the City hired artist team Marino Heidel to create public art as part of the Blue Ridge Road Widening project. This project will include public art sculptures at nine locations throughout the corridor. Taking inspiration from nine of North Carolina's poet laureates, the artists designed each sculpture as a visual interpretation of the poems. The project is considered a poetry walk experience for the corridor, with poems included at each site.
Participating Poet Laureates include: Jackie Shelton Green, Shelby Stephenson, Joseph Bathanti, Cathy Smith Bowers, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Fred Davis Chappell, Sam Ragan, James Larkin Pearson, and Arthur Talmage Abernathy.
Marking the beginning of the poetry walk, this sculpture will be located near Rex Hospital. It’s inspired by Jaki Shelton Green’s poem, “who will be the messenger of this land.”To be located at Ed Drive, this sculpture is inspired by Kathryn Stripling Byer’s poem, “Mountain Time.”
To be located at Ed Drive, this sculpture is inspired by Kathryn Stripling Byer’s poem, “Mountain Time.”
To be located at Blue Ridge Road and Corval Court, this sculpture is inspired by Sam Ragan’s poem, “The Girl in the Green Bathing Suit.”
To be located at Blue Ridge Road and St. Paul’s Church, this sculpture is inspired by Arthur Talmadge Abernathy’s poem, “In Eden.”
To be located at Arbor and Notmack, this sculpture is inspired by Shelby Stephenson’s poem, “Birds.”
To be located at Blue Ridge Road and Marshal Park Lane, this sculpture is inspired by James Larkin Pearson’s poem, “Fifty Acres.”
To be located at Home Wood, this sculpture is inspired by Joseph Bathanti’s poem, “The Haybaler.”
To be located at Housecreek Greenway, this sculpture is inspired by Cathy Smith Bowers’ poem, “A Southern Rhetoric.
To be located at Housecreek Greenway, this sculpture is inspired by Fred Chappell’s poem, “Forever Mountain for J.T. Chappell, 1912-1978.”
About the Project
The Blue Ridge Road Widening Project was prioritized in the Capital Improvement Program, as a major street project. The roadway project will widen a segment of Blue Ridge Road from Duraleigh Road to Crabtree Valley Avenue to three lanes with curb and gutter, sidewalks and a multi-use path to provide a functional and safer multi-modal corridor for vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. The roadway connects a major hospital and shopping center. Along with those two anchors, Blue Ridge is fronted by both single-family residences and apartment complexes. Towards the North-Eastern end, the road is intersected by a heavily used greenway. Current plans include a roundabout, major intersection improvements, a 10ft multi-use trail, and a pedestrian culvert.
This project is part of the Blue Ridge Road Widening Project and is a Percent for Art project.
The Blue Ridge Road Public Art Project is funded by the 2017 Transportation Bond. Capital Improvement Projects that meet the Percent for Art Ordinance standards, such as this one, are eligible to use 1 percent of construction funding for Public Art. Inclusion of aesthetics and artwork is an investment in our communities, with a focus on community identity and equity in quality of life. Communities gain cultural, social, and economic value through public art.
About the Artists
Located on the west coast of the United States, Joel Heidel and Angelina Marino-Heidel work in public art, nationally. Working as an artist team for twenty years, Marino Heidel Studios designs and fabricates public art murals and sculptures as well as their individual studio works.
