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Grant will bring Seward Johnson sculptures to Lower Makefield

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AOY Art Center has announced a collaboration with the Lower Makefield Parks and Recreation Department and the Seward Johnson Atelier to launch the premiere 2023 season of “Art in the Parks.”

Thanks to a $7,500 grant from Visit Bucks County (VBC), contributions from Lower Makefield Township and AOY Art Center, plans are underway to place eight to 10 Seward Johnson sculptures in Lower Makefield. The sculptures are “delightful expressions of the everyday” and will be on loan from the Seward Johnson Atelier (Grounds for Sculpture) for a six-month period.

This project is the result of several initiatives coming together. In 2022 the Lower Makefield Township Parks Department conducted a Community Needs Assessment. One of the needs identified was for more arts and culture in the parks, so this was added to the “Play for All Plan” as an area to address.

AOY Art Center and the Lower Makefield Parks and Recreation Department put their heads together to find a way to embed art within the parks. After reaching out to the Seward Johnson Atelier, part of the Grounds for Sculpture Foundation in Hamilton, N.J., a project partner was identified who would allow the township to host sculptures for a six-month period.

In addition to embedding approximately eight to 10 sculptures throughout the parks and Patterson Farm,which is home to the AOY Art Center, plans are underway to provide a variety of programming to engage the community. This will encompass both the visual and performing arts. Planning for programming during the exhibition period of May through October is already underway.

AOY Art Center is one of the 51 organizations supported by the Bucks County Tourism Grant Program, which distributed $596,867 for 2022. The program was established between VBC and the County of Bucks, in 2008, to assist in the development and enhancement of tourism initiatives in Bucks County. It is funded from a portion received from the Bucks County lodging tax assessed to visitors staying overnight in hotels, bed and breakfasts and home-shares.


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