On Saturday March 8, Canalway hosted the fourth year of the Towpath Trail Lantern Parade. The parade featured 11 local artists displaying commissioned works of art made from upcycled materials and more than 350 guests enjoying the Towpath Trail. The parade waved good-bye to winter and hello to spring as participants carried lanterns along the river, many of them nature- or history-themed.
Prior to the parade, more than 185 people attended lantern-making workshops at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Community Arts Center and taught by Upcycle Parts Shop.
“Connecting people to important places and others within the community is a priority for us. The Lantern Parade brings people together on the historic Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail and allows them to get creative in new ways,” said Meghan Paynter, director of communications at Canalway. “We heard people at the lantern parade mention hosting lantern-making parties, finding new ways to draw natured-themed art, and kids turning plastic bottles into snakes and pigs.”
The 11 featured artists at the parade were:
Ross Bochnek, whose lantern is entitled “Lightbearing Boats” highlights Cleveland history and compares river boats to mythological boats of ancient Egyptian and Greek.
Jim Dotson, whose lantern entitled “Rockin Robin” uses actual vinyl records to create a guitar birdhouse.
Dina Hoeynck, whose lantern is entitled “Deflector Array” repurposes salvaged commercial and residential light fixtures to explore the geometric refraction of light.
Jami Johnson, whose lantern entitled “ Environmental Flam of Hop” encourages viewers to spread light and hope every day.
Isabelle Kolleth, whose lantern is entitle” The Butterfly” and depicts a Karner Blue butterfly that is native to Ohio and endangered.
Beth Lynne, whose lantern entitled “Mù shé” is inspired by the year of the wood snake in the Chinese Zodiac and made from recycled corrugated board and driftwood.
Meaghan Reed, whose lantern entitled “Return of Spring” depicts flora and fauna cut into cardboard and other scrap materials.
Julie Reminick, whose lantern transformed re-used fabric into a butterfly.
Connor Riva, whose lantern is entitled “Leroy the Dragon” which uses cardboard, egg cartons, scraps of foam and imagination to create something magical.
Shannon Timura, whose lantern is entitled “Grumpy Cloud” reminds viewers that even gloomy days have their own magic.
The Rabbit Hole Art Fanatics collaborative, whose lantern entitled “A Lantern Called Wanda” is made of tomato cages, curtains and pool noodles and is inspired by the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie
The Towpath Trail Lantern Parade was sponsored by Kichler Lighting and supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.