TAP seeking donations to install sculptures throughout Tuscarawas County
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (Feb. 21, 2022) – Flowers won’t be the only thing popping up around the valley next spring if fundraising for the Tuscarawas Arts Partnership’s latest project is successful.
The organization is seeking grants and donations to fund a countywide public art initiative called “LoveTusc” that strives to put an outdoor sculpture in as many communities as possible by the summer of 2023. Executive Director Wilma Mullet says for that to happen, they’re going to need to come up with 145-thousand dollars between now and the end of September, which is what it will cost to build the sculptures, pay artists to decorate them, and produce a documentary about the project.
“At that point whenever we reach more into the fall timeline is when we’re going to be shifting over towards having the artists work on some design work, coordinating with all of the mayors and the councils, so phasing all of that out toward the end of 2022, and then the painting of the sculptures will be in January of 2023.”
You can find more information and donate to the project through a link on TAP’s website and Facebook page. Mullet says they’re having an app developed as part of the project that will guide travelers on a sculpture tour of the county.
“You can do a GPS check-in. You can do a photo contest, and you can also answer some trivia questions. It’s just a really great way to get people to go out and about to engage with all of these sculptures in different ways but also visit different parts of Tuscarawas County that maybe they never really had a chance to explore before.”
As of Thursday, 18 communities had signed on to display a “LoveTusc” sculpture including all three cities, most of its villages, Atwood Lake, and Kent State Tuscarawas. Mullet says they will be shaped like the outline of the county with a heart-shaped cutout in the middle and decorated by an artist from that community.