Anyone driving on Jefferson City's Edgewood Drive or walking along the greenway may have noticed some unusually large flower art installations that have sprouted up in the past few weeks.
The 10th Art Inside the Park project will eventually include 20 giant, whimsical "wildflowers" designed by Carla Malone Steck, a local artist who founded Atelier CMS, a non-profit organization dedicated to visual community art projects.
Steck, the artist in residence for Art Inside the Park, created the structures for the wildflowers along with students, including sixth-grade art students at Thomas Jefferson Middle School under the leadership of teachers Holley Smothers and Alicia Herzog. These students have been working on two of the structures since August.
Inspired by the imaginative vegetation found in Dr. Seuss' books, the flowers were made using pipe insulation and bright colored yarn, scraps from the Salvation Army and other materials.
"The only thing I purchased was the pipe insulation," Smothers said. "Everything else was recycled."
Approximately 75 students have been involved in working on the flowers for the Art Inside The Park over the years, Smothers said. The first project back in 2004 involved 20 visiting artists in Memorial Park, with students from 15 schools creating art using barrel trash cans.
Steck along with Doug McBride from Jefferson City's Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, a partner in the Art Inside the Park projects from the beginning, were out in October installing nine of the wildflowers. Steck's son, Ian, welded the different pieces together.
"I love how some of them pop out from the trees and are positioned near the evergreens," Steck said. "Doug and others from the Jefferson City Parks and Recreation Department dug holes and filled them with concrete for the flower installations and that will help them stay in place."
The two trees from Thomas Jefferson Middle School will be installed soon. Plans are for all of the wildflowers to remain at the greenway for nine months. As a flower fades and shows wear, others will be installed.
"We'd like to encourage others to become involved in this project as an ongoing beautification for the greenway near Edgewood," Steck said.