Elizabethtown-A new temporary sculpture's internal staircase and frame are taking shape outside the Adirondack History Museum. A thick, freshly sawn scaffold of local cedar from Westport is being built on a lawn in front of the colony garden.

Randi Renate, a sculptor in San Antonio, Texas, recently graduated from the Yale University School of Art with a Master of Fine Arts degree, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, her thesis installation has not been made public. Last year, she gained months of inspiration during the transit of the Adirondack Mountains, and she said that this work is a way of expressing gratitude.

The temporary installation is titled "Blue is atmospheric refraction and I see you" and will be completed in early July. There will be two stairs on either side of the sphere, meeting at the top of the 14-foot sculpture. Renate has been working on production in a studio in Elizabethtown with her fiancee and artist Raul de Lara. She designed this piece for the Adirondack Mountains.

"When you hike to the top of the mountain, the expansive bird's-eye view provides distance and perspective. The climbing of the sculpture imitates the act of crossing these mountains, which have given me so much artistic inspiration and personal growth," Reinert said.

The ongoing project is a participating project independent of the Adirondack History Museum's exhibition series this season. But it complements the museum's 2021 female artist exhibition, celebrating local residents and women who draw inspiration from the mountain landscape. As Renate's sculptures were carried out on the site, the museum exhibited "A Woman's View—An Artist Who Recognizes the Adirondack Mountains".

Upon completion, visitors can climb to the top of the sculpture and overlook the fire tower on Hurricane Mountain.

"After the pandemic, I think this project is now very timely," Renate said. "Even at the highest level, there is a distance between you and another person. But it is also a meeting point, a place to gather together."

The sphere itself represents movement and climbing in possible directions.

"A dome can be a mountain, an observatory, a planet. For me, this shape has a lot of power to push these concepts, just like water flow. The sphere is formed by gravity," Reinert said of the design concept. Say. "I want the audience to think about the connection between man and nature."

The sculpture's frame and smooth shell are made of locally sourced Adirondack cedar. The blue-gray wash that will complete this work is a color found in the farthest layer of a mountain landscape.

"The blue finish of the work comes from our vast atmosphere: seen from a distance while at the top of the mountain," Renate said.

Participatory installations provide a space for encounter-a terrain that can be seen and seen, recognized and recognized by others.

"Living in the Adirondack Mountains, I feel very grateful. This is my gratitude to the mountains and the people," Renate said.

Because of her work in the past few weeks, many residents and people working in the town stopped to ask about the artist.

"This is an important part of the museum's mission," said Aurora McCaffrey, the museum's executive director. "Our museum not only looks at the rich history of the area, but also considers how these mountains and landscapes have inspired so many people to come here. We welcome the opportunity to provide artists with a place to develop and display their works."

The sculpture will remain on site for the 2021 season. The opening reception is scheduled to be held at 5 pm on August 13 and is open to the public.

Renate worked with the town to obtain permission for the project. Part of the funding for the project came from the Decentralization Program, a refinancing program of the New York State Arts Council with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the state legislature of New York State. These funds are managed by the Adirondack Lake Art Center.

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