TCA Street Art Trail includes 35 panels of painted or sculpted artwork.
TECUMSEH — This summer, a new, outdoor art exhibit started to take shape at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts.
Called the TCA Street Art Trail, it has grown to 35 panels of painted or sculpted art mounted on the outside of the theater’s storage barn, about three times as many as TCA executive director Kelly Jo Gilmore thought they’d do when the first call for artists went out in early June.
The Street Art Trail is just the first part of what the TCA is hoping to extend into neighboring Douglas W. Bird Memorial Park.
Gilmore said the TCA is working with F&S Landscaping of Tecumseh on a master plan for a sculpture park, also on the north side of the property by the barn.
An idea for that includes trails into Bird Park where visitors could find interactive, musical instruments.
“One opportunity that we have here is that we have so much property surrounding the theater, and so my goal is to keep expanding the outdoor services and programming that we can offer,” Gilmore said. “Our hope and goal is that the TCA Street Art Trail will kind of serve as a catalyst to really start developing the property.”
Gilmore said she has been consulting with Ken Thompson at Flatlanders in Blissfield on the sculpture park concept. The TCA is already a location on Tecumseh’s annual art trail of several outdoor sculptures.
A socially-distanced ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Street Art Trail is being planned for sometime in October.
The Street Art Trail came out of the TCA’s strategic planning process. TCA staff decided to take advantage of the theater’s production schedule being shut down and start working on the Street Art Trail, Gilmore said.
“I think the virus and quarantine has given a lot of people creative outlets to explore, and some of them have just taken on new hobbies of painting, so this was a great way for them to continue that,” Gilmore said.
There were no limits on what materials the artists could use. Acrylic paint was common, but some used materials like glitter and rhinestones to add some sparkle to their boards.
Gilmore said donations covered some of the costs. The Friends of the TCA group donated $400 to the project, and individuals provided some supplies, too.
Artists would leave leftover materials for others to use.
“It was purely a wonderful collaboration, and all of it went so smoothly, especially since it was a first, trial-run for us,” Gilmore said. “It was a great group of artists and community members to work with.”
Anyone interested can contact Gilmore at 517-423-6617 or boxoffice@thetca.org.
