ArtPARK receives new temporary structure
The artPARK received a new temporary structure on Friday, May 31 as crews worked from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday and Saturday morning to construct a temporary shade place, called the meeting room, by designer Behrang Behin of Behin Ha Design Studio based in New York City.
COSHOCTON – A new temporary structure has been constructed in the artPARK to create a place where people can gather in the shade. The meeting room, as it has been called, was constructed on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 by five crews with 12 volunteers total to bring the new structure to life.
The design was completed by Behrang Behin of Behin Ha Design Studio based in New York City. The company completed a project in 2010 on Governors Island, which was a temporary pavilion that caught the attention of Anne Cornell, director of the Pomerene Center for the Arts.
“That alerted me that these structures existed,” said Cornell. “The temporary structure on Governors Island offered shelter from the sun. In the original plans for the artPARK, there was a shade structure planned, but by the time we were close to that, we were running out of money and steam. I then started thinking about a temporary shade structure.”
The temporary shade structure will be up until the end of September and is made out of polypropylene mesh scrap trimmings from Snyder Manufacturing in Dover.
“The sculptures in the artPARK are all industrial, so it’s very in keeping with this structure using material from a manufacturing company,” said Cornell.
While Cornell is hoping the design of the structure will change each year, the concrete circle will remain and the steal used to clamp the strips into place will be recycled.
“We wanted to create a structure that was both functional by providing shade and an enclosure that would also provide light,” said Behin. “It is something that will bring attention to the artPARK. It has been a pleasure to work with the Pomerene Center and to work in the Coshocton area.”
The structure was funded by the Ohio Next Grant through The Ohio Arts Council that the Pomerene Center wrote with the Ohio State University Extension Office. The matching grant was for $6,000 and was matched by the Community Arts Fund through the Coshocton Foundation that was started by Robert and Caroline Simpson with the purpose of using for matching funds.
Cornell is hoping that at least 20 groups utilize the space during the summer months. If your organization would like to meet in the meeting room, contact the Pomerene Center for chairs and tables. The center also has a calendar site on their website where groups can schedule a meeting in the artPARK.
“Our goal for the whole space is for people to spend time here and have an area to come downtown,” said Cornell. “My favorite story is when people tell stories about when downtown was thriving and it was all about people. It was all socializing. The center of community, there’s still meaning in that and I think people still want that. It’s a lively, beautiful space that we hope people want to be in.”
The design of the shelter will change each year. The Pomerene Center is working on developing a relationship with the architect school at Ohio State University and is hoping to bring in a designer next year that is closer to home.
Category: People & Places
