Sculpture Trail links Cloverdale and Geyserville

Eighteen new sculptures will be unveiled in Cloverdale and Geyserville on May 8, the newest version of a free outdoor art exhibit that links the two towns.

It is sponsored by the Cloverdale Arts Alliance and the Geyserville Community Foundation, with support from the Geyserville Chamber, but it is due in large part to the vision of one very remarkable lady, Joyce Mann.

A graduate of UC Berkeley and Illinois native, Mann owned preschools in Oakland and Livermore, worked for the Santa Cruz City Museum, curated art exhibits and owned a destination management company. Because her late husband, Chuck, worked with Pfizer, they lived in Cork, Ireland; throughout the U.S. and finally Carmel Valley, but when it came time to retire, they chose Cloverdale.

There Mann joined a number of artists and others interested in art who were, in 2001, discussing the idea of forming an art organization in Cloverdale. She volunteered to be the new Cloverdale Arts Alliance’s first president.

Two years later, she was hired by the City of Cloverdale to publicize the redevelopment of Cloverdale Boulevard, which included a plan to keep residents and tourists coming downtown during the construction. One of her ideas was an annual sculpture exhibit, which the city agreed to fund. For several months during each summer, sculptures were placed primarily in the Downtown Plaza.

Mann planned, coordinated and managed the first five exhibits. When she decided to semi-retire, that job fell to the Chamber of Commerce and then the Cloverdale Arts Alliance, with major funding still coming from the city.

In 2013, the project expanded to include Geyserville, and the name was changed to The Sculpture Trail. Mann, who recently turned 80, stepped in to handle that change.

Q: How, when and why did Geyserville get involved?

After 10 years, city funding for the sculpture exhibit was no longer available and new funding could not be found. Since this was originally my baby, I came out of retirement to find a way to continue the sculpture display in Cloverdale.

I was aware of the two-year-old sculpture exhibit in Geyserville and wanted to investigate joining forces. Victoria Heiges, my counterpart in Geyserville, was enthusiastic about a joint venture. We felt having two close-by communities with public art would entice more visitors to take The Sculpture Trail.

Q: Why did you decide to expand it to a year-round exhibit?

It is as much work to produce a four-month exhibit as a year-round one. The work required is ongoing, with no breaks for the sculpture project coordinators.

Q: How do you attract artists?

I started developing a database of sculptors the very first year. Now I send a call for artists to those in my database, to art organizations in Northern California and to the media throughout Northern California. The annual Cloverdale Exhibit had an excellent reputation throughout the sculptor community, and now The Sculpture Trail has a good reputation.

Q: Who helps you decide the placement?

Victoria handles placement of the Geyserville sculptures. Janet Howell, a resident of Cloverdale and owner of the J. Howell Fine Art Gallery in Healdsburg, helps me locate spots in Cloverdale. Next, the city has to approve the locations for safety and ADA requirements.

Q: Are there cash prizes?

There aren’t because The Sculpture Trail is not yet a juried exhibit, but each participating sculptor receives a $250 stipend to help defray the cost of transporting and setting up the sculpture.

Q: How many will be displayed in 2015?

There will be 30 pieces altogether, including 10 new ones in Cloverdale and eight in Geyserville. They are in addition to the permanent ones and others being held over for another year.

Q: Is there anything different about this year’s Sculpture Trail?

The majority of the sculptures are freestanding on the sidewalks of Cloverdale, but this year they are allowing us to place and stake two sculptures on city property near the intersection of Citrus Fair Drive and Cloverdale Boulevard, which means we will now have four sculptures greeting visitors.

The Sculpture Trail will be in place May 7 and will remain there through May 5, 2016. A public artists’ reception is planned for 4:30-6:30 p.m. May 16 at the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center, 209 N. Cloverdale Blvd. More info: 101sculpturetrail.com or 894-4470.

Contact Cloverdale Towns Correspondent Mary Jo Winter at Cloverdale.Towns@gmail.com.