What exactly is in this controversial ‘art park’ in Sedgwick County?

Until the sign went up, there was little controversy surrounding the Sedgwick County Art Park.

The long-planned project is being installed on 5 undeveloped acres near the 13th Street entrance of the Sedgwick County Park.

When finished, it will be an interactive sculpture park showcasing environmental art — large pieces that use natural elements like Flint Hills limestone.

But because of the sign recently erected to advertise the Sedgwick County Art Park, some have confused it with the Art Park, a collection of arts-related businesses near 29th and Rock Road.

The Art Park’s co-owner Charles Baughman recently told The Eagle he was “nauseous, honestly” about the name for the park project.

Probably not the introduction the artists behind the new park were hoping for.

The park, which has been planned for the past eight years, had only recently begun picking up steam.

Terry Corbett is the artist managing the construction of the park, and he has assembled a team of artists to design five major pieces.

The sculptures in the park are not funded by Sedgwick County. All of that funding must come from private donors — hence the delay in construction, Corbett said.

“It’s all pie in the sky until (donors) see something, a lot of times,” Corbett said. “Artists can work fast, but you tell artists to go get the money, and that’s when everything slows down.”

The Wichita Arts Council, a 501(c)(3) organization, is acting as the financial agent for the project, which means donations are tax-deductible.

About a month ago, Corbett and another artist, Tobin Rupe, wrapped up construction of a 60-by-40-yard “Turtle Maze” made partially with large slabs of Flint Hills limestone. There is roughly 200 tons of stone in the sculpture.

At the center of the maze is a box turtle carved from stone with a message on its shell: “A good planet is hard to find.”

When viewed from above, the turtle-shaped outline of the maze is clearly visible — though the park itself lacks the topographic capacity for on-foot visitors to do that.

It’s what’s called a geoglyph, like the Nazca Lines in Peru.

“We’re in the flight path coming into the airport — they have to be seeing this,” Corbett said of airplane passengers flying into Wichita.

The “Turtle Maze” was completed with a $50,000 grant from the Lattner Family Foundation.

Here are the other four projects scheduled for the park.

• A 25-foot-tall stone sculpture meant to represent a human (known as an inukshuk) overlooking 13th Street. It will be completed by stone worker Rupe. Rupe said that eventually there will be three inukshuks on site, though the plan is to complete one first.

• A “Fossil Fish,” made out of Cor-Ten steel, mimicking fish bones. The plan is to plant trumpet vines up the ribs of the sculpture. The sculpture will be done by Richie Bergen and Larry Goodwin, who collaborated on metal sculptures near the Old Town railroad overpass on Santa Fe.

• Three large wooden totem poles created by Gino Salerno, who carved himself an outsized reputation in the 1990s by creating whimsical sculptures out of dead tree stumps in Wichita parks. The totem poles will feature animals from North America, South America and Central America.

• A large sculpture installation of life-size buffalo depicting migration, to be carved by Conrad Snider. The buffalo herd will be affixed to 8-foot slabs of Flint Hills limestone. Snider, a local ceramic artist, most recently completed work outside the new Advanced Learning Library downtown.

The park idea itself was approved eight years ago by the county — a head-turning decision, as public art in Wichita had typically been associated more with the city and its late manager, Chris Cherches.

The project had stalled until Corbett took over about four years ago, he said.

“The idea that this thing would just fall away didn’t make sense,” he said. “In the long run, it’s a good thing, and that’s what keeps us going. This is a wonderful park.”

Corbett estimates it will cost $250,000 to complete the sculpture park.

Rupe, who is responsible for both the “Turtle Maze” and the forthcoming inukshuk sculptures, said the completion of the first sculpture in the park has made it easier to solicit donations for the inukshuks.

“People have a really hard time giving artists that kind of money if they don’t see a finished product,” Rupe said. “Now people who are approaching us can see we’ve done something.”

Teachers in particular, as well as officials in Wichita Public Schools, have expressed support for the project as a free place they can potentially host field trips, Corbett said.

“Of all the presentations I’ve given, teachers get it the quickest,” he said. “(The park) is a lot of fodder for education.”

As for the name of the park, Corbett said the artists don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.

The park had been officially renamed the Sedgwick County Art Walk as of Friday.

“It’s an exercise in harmony,” he said.

For more information about the park, visit www.sedgwickcountyartpark.org.

This story was originally published July 25, 2018 at 5:50 AM.