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Date: 5/31/2023
BELCHERTOWN — The Belchertown Cultural Council will host an event on Saturday, June 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. that will feature a Graffiti Jam, skateboard paint party and Lake Wallace Sensory Trail statue reveal.
The rain date will be Sunday, June 4, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
BCC Chair Audrey Anderson said all three events will be taking place at the same time at the Belchertown Skate Park, 5 Whitlock Way
The event is open to the public and not just Belchertown residents.
The paint party is organized in partnership with Common Wealth Murals and local partners, including Theory Skateshop, the Belchertown Cultural Council and the Belchertown Community Alliance.
The paint party includes a $5 registration fee that will provide people with a skateboard deck and paint to freeform design their board however they would like.
Anderson said people should register through the Recreation Department beforehand at tinyurl.com/35pjcmyb. The $5 registration fee will ensure your space at the party to paint your own skateboard deck.
Theory will be at the event with on-site skateboard building and servicing including tune-ups, adding wheels to the skateboard or assisting with designs.
There will also be music and food at the event with Maddie’s Dogs providing food for purchase.
This program is supported by a grant from the Belchertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, as well as the Belchertown Cultural Alliance.
At the same time as the skateboard paint party, the BCC partnered with Common Wealth Murals, who will be bringing a handful of graffiti artists to come and paint some of the surfaces in and around the skate park including some paneling that will be hung at the back of the skate park.
“They will take free rein and add some fun art to liven up the space there,” Anderson added.
Anderson added that BCC worked with Common Wealth Murals to add art at the State School property and Common Wealth Murals did a similar event in Chicopee and Springfield.
Anderson added, “I would encourage folks even if they don’t skateboard to come down and just watch the art as it is installed. I think it will be a really interesting event.”
The event will also feature a sculpture reveal at the Lake Wallace Sensory Trail, which borders the skate park.
Donald Longley is the local artist who is designing Anillo, a sculpture to be displayed at the Lake Wallace Sensory Trail.
The sculpture will be three large circles made from steel on a concrete path that will help frame the scenery.
“It is going to be a large sculpture, but it is made to also frame some of the panoramas you will see from there so not to block the view just to kind of accentuate them. We are positioning it in a way that it is visually appealing where it is not blocking things. It will make for some nice frames of the scenery and area,” Anderson said.
Longley created Hercworx which is a local company that creates original works using metal for sculptures, art, and signs.
Anderson said she and the BCC are looking to develop this area that many people visit while walking on the recently added Lake Wallace Sensory Trail.
The Lake Wallace Sensory Trail is along the skate park and the wetlands at the edge of the former Belchertown State School, now known as Carriage Grove.
The Lake Wallace Sensory Trail is a brand new trail system with three outlooks and a 1.3 mile loop hike around Lake Wallace.
Anderson said, “We are hoping to install some visual arts in that space, so Donnie is a local artist we are familiar with, and we are excited that a Belchertown resident has the first sculpture installed. With the new trail there we are trying to see what else we could do to add to it and make people more excited to visit the area. It is a perfect space to add a sculpture.”
She added, “It is our first sculpture, and we are hoping to bring more art to that area. This is the first one, so we are real, real excited about that. We are kind of focusing on that area because we are hoping to eventually be able to get a cultural district designation.”
A cultural district designation would allow the area to get annual state funding to maintain the area and add other features but that is a long term goal, according to Anderson.
The BCC is also currently working on other grants to add more artwork and sculptures to the area.