Enchanted Storybook Garden coming to Black Watch Library

TICONDEROGA | This fall, beloved characters from classic children's literature will be the newest faces of Montcalm Street. Peter Rabbit, Christopher Robin, Alice in Wonderland, and other well-known favorites will be installed at Black Watch Library in the form of bronze sculptures, creating a magical experience for children and families. "The addition of children's literary garden sculptures will turn our ordinary outdoor space into a joyful, educational, and imaginative experience—extending the library's mission into the community and planting the seeds of lifelong reading," noted library director Heather Johns. North Country Rural Development Coalition (NRDC) is the organization heading up this newest public art installation, which will be officially known in town as the Enchanted Storybook Garden. The sculptures will incur zero cost to taxpayers. According to NRDC's Executive Director Nicole Green, the project emerged through ongoing relationship-building with a foundation that specializes in funding public art for children. "Earlier this year, I proposed several placemaking concepts, and they expressed strong interest in one in particular: a Storybook Sculpture Garden featuring a series of beautifully detailed, museum-grade bronze sculptures inspired by classic children's literature," she recounted. Following the success of the NRDC/Essex County Landbank's Walls Between Waters Mural Festival this past June that received a positive public response, the private foundation reached back out to Green, expressing their desire to fund this next project. Green said this initiative complements Walls Between Waters, and aligns with NRDC's ongoing vision for layered, family-friendly public art experiences in Ticonderoga. "While my initial thought was to place the sculptures in the park, I would love to focus the first phase downtown to support increased foot traffic and visibility for local businesses," she explained. "I also remembered the library's previous interest in a Storybook Walk and thought this could present a wonderful opportunity for collaboration between the Town, the Library, and NRDC." Green said the literary statues are modest in scale but visually stunning, and are designed to encourage family engagement, walkability, and literacy. United Kingdom-based Robert James Workshop has been commissioned to bring the characters to life, and has completed similar bespoke installations across the United States and Europe. Alice in Wonderland and Christopher Robin are the size of an actual human child, while Toad and Peter Rabbit will be the smallest of the fictional crew. Each of the six sculptures will be affixed to a cement pedestals with signage and excerpts from their respective books, creating a sculpture walk. "I'm toying with the idea- this hasn't fully coalesced- to have our local children read the excerpts from the book and have a QR code for folks to scan and hear the recordings of the children reading the books." The sculptures will be on permanent loan to the Town of Ticonderoga from NRDC, with NRDC covering maintenance and insurance. "These sculptures will last forever, but they do need to be cleaned annually and need to be covered if we are going to have a really bad winter," remarked Green. The private foundation has offered to fully fund fabrication and installation, and the artist is willing to visit for an artist talk, children's programming, and a public launch event. "If we can move forward soon, the sculptures could arrive by late October or early November, allowing for a holiday-themed debut," Green said. To see what the town is in store for, visit https://www.robertjamesworkshop.com/us/. Also stayed tuned on the NRDC Facebook page and website for more on this particular project and public outreach for the next phase of public art. "Hopefully, the Enchanted Storybook Garden will encourage kids to read and revive some of these classic characters," said Green. "It will be very touching for adults, too, because these are all characters we remember, too."

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Enchanted Storybook Garden coming to Black Watch Library

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