Art in the Park enters final week of judging

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Ironwood - The warm weather drew a sizable crowd to the Miners Memorial Heritage Park in Ironwood Sunday afternoon, providing plenty of judging opportunities as the final week for the Art in the Miners Park began.

"This morning there was nothing, there was nobody here - I don't know if they were all at church or whatever," said Paul Kostelnik, president of the park's board of directors. "But since this afternoon, it's been busy all afternoon. I wasn't here all day, but my count is close to 100 people - just this afternoon."

The public judging portion of the contest runs through Friday, according to Kostelnik.

He said ballots for the public vote are available at the entrance to the trail system, near the parking lot off Ayer Street.

Around 300 to 400 people have voted since voting opened in June, with Kostelnik saying he expects more people to cast ballots before the voting window closes.

"Some people have to make decisions this week," he joked. "Some people are, 'Well, let me walk it once more.'"

Five of the nine exhibits in the park are eligible for voting, each made by a different artist.

Some of the non-judged exhibits were made by the same artists as the competition pieces, according to Kostelnik.

Along with the people's choice award, a visiting artist will also choose a winner.

The awards will be given out at 3:30 p.m., Saturday.

There will also be a talk on outdoor art in the community at the 906Boom! maker-space on Aurora Street Saturday at 5 p.m.

Sunday will feature a walkthrough with the visiting artist at 9 a.m. on how to evaluate outdoor art.

Even though Friday is the end of pubic voting, the art will remain on display through Aug. 28, Kostelnik said.

This is the third year the park has done Art in the Miners Park, also having had contests in 2014 and 2016.