SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The city of Sacramento is launching a call out to local, state and international artists for a $300,000 sculpture project at Robert T. Matsui Park.
"One of the things that the Sacramento tree foundation felt fairly strong about and we support is that the sculpture in some way will need to relate to a tree or trees in general, whatever that means will ultimately be the artist's interpretation," said Donald Gensler, Art in Public Places project manager for the city of Sacramento. "But we're really excited about this opportunity to hire an artist."
The sculpture will have a home in the recently announced cherry blossom park along the Sacramento River at Robert T. Matsui Park known as the Hanami Line.
A lead of the project and the park improvement is the Sacramento Tree Foundation, a nonprofit organization working to connect communities with nature.
The Hanami Line would include over 100 cherry blossom trees, public art, drought-tolerant landscaping, seating and an area to host various festivals.
"So it's really to create a sense of monumentality, right, we wanted something that was going to be kind of larger than the trees, (so) when those trees are no are not in bloom, because of course, certain seasons, they're not going to be in bloom, that this sculpture would kind of remain as a nice focal point for the park," said Gensler. "I think this idea that project is focused on the idea of trees, is both aesthetically beautiful and just kind of environmentally really sensitive and quite important for us."
Applications close March 6, artist interested in submitting to be a part of the project can click HERE.
The project and upgrades to the city of Sacramento park are expected to be completed summer 2024.
