Over the years, locals have left whimsical arrangements composed of all sorts of things - glittering rocks, oddly shaped pieces of wood, and bits and pieces found in the town’s historic dump - antique bottles, old car parts, rusting spring mattresses, fragments of 19th century tea cups, square nails... Walkers often engage in a kind of “call and response” to these assemblages, leaving their own additions of colorful rocks, desert glass, and beads.
In 2015, the trail got an infusion of inspiration from visiting Michigan-based artist Brian Schorn's "Comstock Wabi Sabi" artwork, 22 works created in 2015 with found objects that have been shown in multiple solo shows in Virginia City and Reno. Schorn writes, “In 2015, while at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City, I was deeply inspired by the found object art trail located just behind the McCormick House (my home and studio at the time). I hiked the trail often with my neighbor, Fred Swanson, who was a significant art contributor to the trail. I remember so many times, while hiking alone, seeing something out of the corner of my eye, looking closer and finding an amazing configuration of colored rocks, purple glass and rusted metal. This experience was so powerful, that I began picking up my own found objects along the trail. I brought them back to the studio and ended up with a collection of material that eventually became a series of wall assemblages entitled "Comstock Wabi-Sabi." I am grateful for this trail and the people who make it so special.”
Brian writes of his artwork titled "Dinnerware," that "broken pieces of plates, cups and bowls are a very common object to find in and around the mining areas. Often, upon finding colorful, ornate, yet deteriorating pieces of dinnerware, I would pause and think to myself, 'Who ate off of this plate and what was their life like?' This historical perspective gave significant impact to every fragment I found. Each fragment containing its own stories, some evident, some secret. “Dinnerware” collects a diverse series of plate fragments along with rusted silverware amid a field of gray earth, acting as a neutral background. It also continues the exploration of asymmetrical composition and formal strategies suggesting mining pits."
Oakland-based artist Scott MacLeod's 2016 found object assemblages added another layer to the art trail treasures. His piece with an antique typewriter has been altered and moved to various spots along the trail since he created it, yet remains one of the most photographed pieces on the trail. In 2016, while at the Resident Artist Program in Silver City, MacLeod created two large sculptures made from abandoned car parts, wood and metal that mark an area near the head of the art trail. He also created two miniature “ghost towns” - Sweaty Creek and Fort Mylo- and placed them at undisclosed locations along the trail. In addition, walkers delight in trying to find MacLeod’s lovely tribute to Bob McKinney, a sailing ship artpiece made from found objects.
After Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet David Lee’s 2016 and 2017 poetry readings in Silver City, Fred and Las Swanson created a kinetic art work that's a tribute to his poem "Silver City Dawn Psalm." The poem is attached to a dangling pendant positioned so that the morning sun shines through as it comes up over the mountains. Or as David Lee describes it, "the tired old sun stretches his long arms/ pulls down eastern horizon/ with a yawn and sigh/ one more time shoulders his pack/ and begins the high lonesome saunter/ over Sierra."
Artists, both local and visiting, have responded to Silver City's art trail by creating found object art, photographs, fiction, and even film, such as this 2016 contribution from a Czech-born artist. https://www.instagram.com/p/BDTyb_omMYk/?taken-by=calouseque
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