The third sculpture in the Trenton Arts Council’s ArtScape project was installed on December 8. ArtScape was initiated by the Council in 2012 and is an ongoing series of temporary art installations on public and private property in Trenton. 

The works are on loan from the artists and for sale through the Trenton Arts Council, with a portion of the proceeds going to the council to continue its work.

“Temporal Transect #2” by Jerry Wallace was installed on the property of W. D. Thomas Enterprises Inc, one half mile north of the Courthouse Square in Trenton, and will be on view there for six months to a year.

In a statement about his installation, the artist said: “The history of this planet, and that of some of its former inhabitants, may be read in its geologic strata, and in the fossil record contained therein, like the chapters of a book, albeit one with a few pages missing. There are mysteries yet to be solved from ages past, and many that never will be. ‘Temporal Transect # 2’  posits a time when the artifacts and leavings of the Anthropocene epoch will appear as strange and mysterious to the inhabitants of some far-flung era as the remains of the creatures bound up in the rocks under our feet do to us today.“

Mr. Wallace studied art at the University of Georgia, with an emphasis on graphic design. For the past 30 years he has worked as an illustrator and animator, primarily producing and designing animation and graphics for the laser show entertainment industry. In that time he has garnered over a dozen awards for his art. This is his first public sculpture.

ArtScape is one of many public arts projects sponsored by the Trenton Arts Council, which fosters appreciation of area performers and visual artists through exhibits and cultural events. Wallace received grants for this sculpture from the Trenton Arts Council and the Lookout River Foundation, with the support of the City of Trenton, Will Thomas, and W.D. Thomas Enterprises, which provided the land for the exhibition. 

William Back, director of the Lookout River Foundation, said, “We offer micro-grants to fund projects that are off the radar of the larger arts organizations. Jerry Wallace, who pushed edges he hadn’t before, is typical of the people we want to support.”

The sculpture will be celebrated at noon on Saturday at the installation site at 12700 North Main Street in Trenton. The artist will be present.