For Immediate Release
September 7, 2023
“Hyde Park Views” Art Installation Celebration
Montpelier, Vt. – It has been three years in the making, and the Hyde Park community will be celebrating a new art installation along the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 9. The piece, like other public art completed by Artist Dan Gottsegen, incorporates glass panels made from his paintings that are then custom designed into a large steel structure.
The celebration is part of the annual Hyde Park Home Day events which are held from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., beginning with a parade on Main Street. At 2:00 p.m. all are invited to the nearby trailhead public at site (75 Depot St Extension) for a short celebration that concludes with Don Stevens, Chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk - Abenaki Nation blessing the site and artwork. Parking is very limited at the site. There are 65 spaces at Hyde Park Elementary School.
This community art project was first funded in April 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Grants and crowd-funding for the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT) amenity was completed on June 6th, at the conclusion of most pandemic measures. Strong community support and grants from the Vermont Arts Council (VAC) and the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) Better Places program combined for project success, at times therapeutically. The LVRT art installation required no local property taxes and now adds to existing wayfinding signs connecting Route 15 to the LVRT and an upcoming trailhead improvement study funded by a Vermont Agency of Transportation LVRT Community Grant to encourage more visitors to Hyde Park.
Artist Dan Gottsegen worked with Kevin Stearns and his crew from LWI Metalworks of Morrisville to create and install a railroad track themed steel structure to display 20 glass panels from Gottsegen’s series of five paintings. Gottsegen met with numerous community members to create the Hyde Park images, paint them on canvas and digitally replicate them between glass panels. The panels will be viewable from the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail and three town highways. The panels colorfully represent Hyde Park’s history, economic activities, and built environments.
Artist Dan Gottsegen expressed his commitment to the project’s “views” theme stating, “I have done this in all my past projects, documenting unique historical features, architecture, local flora and fauna, historical figures, etc. I enjoy making work that appeals to all ages and families.” Focusing on LVRT projects that draw local families, tourists and potential investors to Hyde Park was a highlighted community goal in the 2020 Town of Hyde Park and Village of Hyde Park community planning effort report, the “Hyde Park Main Street Action Plan”. The Action Plan states that the Town and Village should, “Consider how to align the existing community events with the asset of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, Green River Reservoir, mountain biking trails, and other outdoor recreation resources. The primary purpose of creating event programming in the Village is to build energy. When people see that "things are happening" in Hyde Park they are more likely to get involved or come to the Village.” Town Administrator Ron Rodjenski stated, “Connecting the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail to the Village and Hyde Park overall in a pleasing and informative manner resulted in the use of art and history.”
“The Vermont Arts Council is proud to have supported this stunning piece of landmark art by Dan Gottsegen. His sculpture will serve as a beautiful attraction to Hyde Park and the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail creating visual interest and telling the cultural, environmental, and historical story of the community. Art along trails can help inspire people to connect with nature and their communities, and to explore their world.” Susan Evans McClure, Executive Director.
The Town was awarded $15,000 in Animating Infrastructure grant funds from the Vermont Arts Council for the design and fabrication of the art. Over 95 donors, consisting of residents, property owners and businesses, provided the local cash to secure the 2:1 Better Places funding through the platform Patronicity. This DHCD crowd-funding effort provided the remaining $60,000 for the artwork and site amenities with a total projected cost of $75,000.
Susan Bartlett, Chair of the Hyde Park Selectboard stated, “the Town truly appreciates the extra effort made by Dan Gottsegen to guide the community, support received from the many donors and local contractors, and from town staff and volunteers that provided time and energy over the last three years.” Volunteers and town staff worked with local residents, led by the Hyde Park Selectboard, to ensure no installation costs were paid by local property taxes.
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