These commissioned artworks use innovative mediums such as sculpture, clay, pipes, and text
The Rail Arts District (RAD) Napa is pleased to announce details for three new art installations in 2022. This year’s projects will focus on bringing internationally renowned artists and their talent to the local community and incorporating sculpture, and poetry into the RAD outdoor public exhibition space along the Napa Valley Vine Trail.
“We are excited to roll out these projects in 2022. The context of the last couple of years has provided artists with a lot of creative inspiration, and many are seeking new ways to express themselves—and want their work to be highly visible,” said Chuck McMinn, RAD Board Member/President. “We are grateful to be able to provide a free, public setting in which the community can experience the work of talented artists.”
An 18ft tall sculpture by Napa artist, Jacques Lesec, is now installed in The CIA at Copia’s culinary garden. The sculpture will incorporate light—a first in the RAD. The artist says the sculpture, “Embodies the intersection of art and architecture. It dissolves the boundaries between digital and physical form.”
Additionally, more than a dozen giant, vertical, clay sculptures will be installed along the RAD. The artworks are created by artists who participated in the Mission Clay Products nationally recognized Arts and Industry residency program. As part of the program, artists spend weeks making art (carving and glazing) on six to eight feet clay pipe extrusions.
RAD Napa’s largest project for 2022, Passages, will incorporate poetry in the district. From the simple recording of a person’s name to grander proclamations and propaganda, walls have been used for written communication. In recent decades, writing on walls has been associated with graffiti and street artists, who work sometimes anonymously and without permission—sometimes even in acts of defiance. These artists create art that conveys important messages, and their public work acts as a record of their presence. In our digital age, when printed work is becoming outdated, RAD has commissioned artworks that return to the genesis of written communication with Passages.
Three writers have been commissioned to write new work within the broad theme of Passages to be installed on a more than 100-foot wall on a building located in the RAD. The chosen poets were awarded an honorarium for their work. Collaboration between a graphic designer and the authors will transform words visually to a large scale and then be painted on the wall by a professional billboard painter. The RAD is eager to welcome the poems by writers Loretta Carr, Lindsay Stewart, and Steve Bakalyar to the RAD community.
Additionally, Our RAD Wall is launching this Summer for the third year. Young locals are invited to practice creating murals in public on Our RAD Wall. Participants can collaborate on a design or work individually or with mentors to design and paint in predefined spaces on the wall. Young artists will have the opportunity to explore making art in a public space. All supplies and equipment are provided, and guidance and supervision as well. Emerging young artists, or those curious about art who wish to learn more, are encouraged to sign up for this hands-on experience.
The Our RAD Wall site is located two blocks from the RAD on the building of Devine Paint, a local business and RAD’s partner in the project at 971 Lincoln Ave, Napa.
Our RAD Wall Dates: June 25 // July 9 + 23 // August 6 + 20 // September 3: Timing, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Sign Up Details: Visit www.radnapa.org or email info@radnapa.org
RAD Napa can be enjoyed on foot or by bike along the Napa Valley Vine Trail starting near the intersection of Soscol Avenue and Vallejo Streets in downtown Napa and ending at Redwood Road and California Street. Artworks in the district can also be seen at the Napa Valley Wine Train and the CIA at Copia. RAD is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and relies on donations to support its mission. More information about RAD Napa and its membership program can be found at www.radnapa.org.
About the Rail Arts District (RAD) Napa
Established in 2016, The Rail Arts District (RAD) Napa radically enriches the community through investment in, and stewardship of, Napa’s only art district. RAD Napa begins in Napa’s Oxbow District and continues northward for two miles along the Napa Valley Vine Trail bike and pedestrian path and the Napa Valley Wine Train tracks. Murals, sculptures, landscaping, and parks are just some of the examples of how RAD plans to transform these semi-industrial areas and neighborhoods with art. Today, residents and visitors can experience nearly two dozen works of art in the RAD. To learn more about RAD, a registered 501(c)3, visit www.radnapa.org or find RAD on Facebook.com/RADNapa, Instagram.com/RADNapa, and Twitter @napa_rad.
