‘We want people to walk around the trail and leave their worries behind,’ says Nita Rao, lead artist on the Up To The Beacon Sculpture Trail, a successor to the award-winning Into the Outwoods Sculpture trail which has just opened at the Beacon Hill Country Park. ‘You’re quite separate from what is happening in the world, and you can focus on the beauty of nature and the artwork.’
This is more necessary now than ever. ‘Sometimes we need that healing time to let go,’ Nita adds. ‘Give ourselves a bit of respite from the chaos of the world and just enjoy being in the present moment.’
The sculpture trail, which began on June 28 and is open every day from dawn till dusk until September 21, is really stressing this, with a theme of ‘thriving with nature’ this year. What does this actually encompass? ‘One of the co-created installations, “Sound the alarm – Ring in hope”, features symbolic bell forms, which we’ve worked with the local community to make,’ says Nita, ‘they are decorated with slogans and images that express the individuals concerns and hopes for the future’. Some of the groups involved include the wellbeing centre in Loughborough and the Loughborough climate vigil. ‘We wanted to give people a chance to explore their concerns and their hopes’.
Raising awareness for climate change also falls under the theme. For this, the iconic ‘tree people’ are back, with a twist. There will still be dozens of the recognizable figures in the trees around the 2.2 mile trail, but some will be equipped with protest banners, to highlight biodiversity loss and the climate crisis.
And Nita will be undertaking a residency at the trail with fellow artist Lisa Denham. ‘We will be creating an installation based around lichens and mosses,’ she says. ‘Lichens especially are good indicators of unpolluted areas and there are some rare-to-Leicestershire lichens in the Beacon Hill country park.’
Of the more-than 25 sculptures making up this year’s trail, some are new, while others return from previous years, including the ‘History of Life’ timeline, Polar bears and Ostriches.
What should visitors take away from the project? ‘To think about how amazing the natural world is, with its biodiversity, and to appreciate the natural world and our place in it,’ Nita says.
‘And to think about things like plastic waste, and how we as individuals can maybe do something about it, and to create greater awareness of the climate emergency – we need to think about both the threats to our world and the wonders of the earth and nature.’
Biodiversity has been one of the key reminders across past sculpture trails and this one. ‘We’ve worked with different groups to make beetles, exploring the importance of beetles and how they’re good for the ecosystem,’ Nita adds. ‘And there’ll also be dragonflies again.’
Watch this space for more details about the free creative workshops for the public at the trail during August …