‘A forest of ideas’ grows in Wassaic

‘A forest of ideas’ grows in Wassaic
Wassaic Project Communications Coordinator Joe Brommel said the message atop Maxon Mills is visible from Furnace Bank Road, the Metro-North Railroad and the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, adding the artwork is “designed to engage people as they move through the hamlet on foot, bike, train or car.”
Photo by Deanne Lyle

WASSAIC — Residents and visitors to the hamlet of Wassaic may have noticed the wooden letters perched atop the roof of The Wassaic Project’s Maxon Mills building spelling out the message, “VOICES LIGHT UP HILLS AND HOLLOWS — A FOREST OF IDEAS.” 

The sign was created by artists Steffi Drewes and Jesse Walton as a site-specific installation; the text draws from conversations with members of the Wassaic community “in which people have shared their connections to the hamlet and their insights on the region’s history, vital landmarks and landscapes and creative opportunities,” according to Wassaic Project Communications Coordinator Joe Brommel. 

Funding for the installation was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA); it marks one of three public art projects supported by a 2020 NEA Art Works grant. The grant was in the amount of $30,000.

— Kaitlin Lyle

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