A R T S & C U LT U R E
SITTING ON 1,500 ACRES OF LAND, the Belwin Conservancy wel-
A Memory of the Prairie Belwin Conservancy’s newest art installation brings visitors closer to nature. By Ava Diaz
Roaming Stone by Chicago sculptor David Sprecher, currently on view at Tallgrass Trails at Belwin Conservancy in Afton.
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comes individuals to learn and engage with nature. Partnering with a variety of local educational institutions and indigenous organizations, Belwin program director Susan Haugh says the team hopes to be a resource where “people can come relax, have fun and learn about the land.” This is made possible through education and restoration projects to rejuvenate, restore and maintain the land. “The more we respect the earth, the better off we are going to be,” Haugh says. “Without all of the bugs and birds and the mammals, there is no life … We depend on them, and they depend on us, so we need to be better about taking care of the land.” A part of getting people interested in preservation is through art, says Haugh. That is why the Belwin partnered with 4Ground: Midwest Land Art Biennial, a three-month-long contemporary art festival that spans across four states and tribal lands in the upper Midwest. It works to raise awareness around the importance the ecosystem has in our daily lives while also celebrating art and history of the rural regions. “Art is such a beautiful way of enriching the experience of anything at a deeper, more emotional level,” Haugh says. “I think about sculpture as anything and everything in the world. It feels like a very open-ended medium ... So that is very liberating,” says David Sprecher, a Chicago sculptor, whose art is featured at the Belwin Conservancy as a part of
Roaming Stone, made of bison tracks and natural imprints, during its creation.
December 2022/January 2023
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