An Art installation in Four Parts taking place in the Columbia River Gorge
"With traditional small family farms under tremendous pressure from expanding suburbs and large agribusiness, I wanted to bring attention to this issue. My background as a commercial artist and arts organizer all came to bear in bringing this project forward. Farms and especially community supported agriculture have held my interest over the years and for the last three years I had organized a Columbia Gorge Open Studios Tour to bring artists and the public together. Working with organizations and bringing people from different walks of life was something I wanted to continue. The fruit ladders I saw driving around the orchards in my neighborhood seemed like the perfect way to create art using an agricultural tool.
I imagined these ladders taken out of their usual workplace setting and painted in bright colors. A line of them running alongside major highways would generate interest and curiosity, I reasoned. A group art show would be a good way of bringing together artists, farmers and the public together. An art show featuring the work of local artists working with locally grown food and farms theme seemed like a good to get these different group s together.
The two art pieces - ladders and group show - would move together from one area to another, generating interest from locals and travelers alike. I hope this art project brings together artists, farmers and the general public to consider what is important about family farms and eating locally and to have some fun at the same time. The ladders symbolize aspiration, raising people from one level to another, as I hope this project will do."
John Maher
Dozens of wooden fruit ladders, painted in bright colors will be running in a conga line alongside I-84 and Highway 35 in the Columbia River Gorge. The ladders will appear in four installations along the route. The first installation will be along Highway 35 in Hood River. The second along Interstate I-84 near Mosier, then near The Dalles, Oregon.
An art show call "Running Fruit Ladders - The Inside Edition" containing the work of local artists inspired by family farms and locally grown foods themes, will be shown concurrently with the outside installation at different venues near the outside installations.
A celebration of small family farms and the need for their preservation will be the result of the “Running Fruit Ladders” art project. The area’s farmers, fruit growers, artists, citizens and travelers will all be a part of this large scale art installation and show.
“Running Fruit Ladders” is an art installation consisting of dozens of multi-colored fruit ladders, which will be placed on properties alongside major highways and an art show with the small family farms and locally grown them's portrayed by local artists. The ladders will be arranged to look as if they might be a string of runners. Seen in a serpentine line, the ladders will be out of their usual context of orchards and with their bright colors and cha-cha line formation will obviously not be in their usual working mode.
The element of surprise will play a large part in the success of the piece. After beginning in the area of Hood River and with the ladders spending six weeks at a particular location, the ladders will then be moved to another location, several miles to the east. This progression will be repeated several times with no announcement as to where the ladders might appear next. The public will be riding along in their car on I-84 and suddenly, the installation will appear (and disappear some time later). The final number of individual installations is three on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, with the installation finally reaching Maryhill Art Museum in Washington.
The title “Running Fruit Ladders pays homage to Christo’s “Running Fences” project in Marin County in the eighties. The ladders themselves symbolize the human need to aspire, the struggle to rise above our circumstances and climb to higher levels. The ladders also bring together our regions’ economic tradition of agriculture and the “running” lines echo the currents in the nearby Columbia River, the lifeblood of the region for thousands of years.
Public awareness of the plight of small family farms, through magazine and news articles, would be the outcome of this project. . Arts in the Gorge would also be promoted, with increased awareness of art in the Gorge through the large scale ladders installation. Tourism agencies would be interested in partnering with this project for out of the region promotion. The public at large would benefit by engaging with the art without having to leave their cars.
The drawing together of the community through a heightened awareness of the plight of small family farms is the object of this art piece.
Downloadable PDF of Project Description
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