First published in the Dec. 11 print issue of the Glendale News Press.
The Adams Hill community has made a tradition out of working together to create seasonal art displays in the Adams Square Mini Park historic gas station.
For the sixth year in a row, artist Cathy Hrenda has designed an exhibition with seasonal themes of community tolerance and kindness. She and her husband, Stephen Meek, recently oversaw the assembly of the exhibition by residents of Adams Hill
This year’s display was inspired by the Inuit cultural tradition known as Inukshuk, stone monuments found in the Arctic. The word “Inukshuk” means “that which acts in the capacity of a human,” and its human-shaped appearance connotes safety, hope and friendship. The traditional stone structures have been replaced in Hrenda’s installation by cardboard boxes to create a sense of welcoming spirits. The stone sculptures are interpreted by the Inuit people as creating “guidance and unity toward common goals.”
The cardboard boxes were painted by residents of Adams Hill who came together in the Mini Park, symbolically welcoming the spirit of working cooperatively to a common goal — the finished art installation.
As in past years, the exhibit was created mostly from trash left on the street, including bottle caps, boxes and glass crystals.
