Outdoor/Unframed art collective to open installation at Lake Herrick Trail in Athens

Athens resident Paula Reynaldi is passionate about her “masking tape” artwork and the environment in which it is displayed.

Reynaldi, who has mounted exhibitions locally at both the Lyndon House Arts Center and the ATHICA gallery, said she often enjoys adapting her work to the outdoors, where she sees fewer boundaries.

“In a gallery, the space is always framed by walls and rules,” said the native of Argentina, who moved to Athens several years ago to study sculpture and art education at UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. “You always adapt your art to the space, and in the outdoors, you don’t have to frame your space.”

Reynaldi also exhibited her work in Atlanta, Augusta, Ohio, Mississippi and Kentucky (as well as Buenos Aires) and has executed a number of outdoor trail installations, as well as other public spaces.

Earlier this year, Reynaldi founded an art collective with what she described as “a group of wonderful local artists, musicians, scientists, performers and educators who come together to create art installations and performances on public trails.”

The collective – known as Outdoor/Unframed – will host its first outdoor exhibit from Oct. 14 to Oct. 28 at the Lake Herrick Trail at Oconee Forest Park (also known as the location of UGA’s intramural fields on Lake Herrick Drive). Reynaldi, who worked as a cellist and music teacher in her native Argentina, is more than familiar with the Lake Herrick Trail as she had a previous exhibit there.

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“In 2018, before the pandemic, I did two outdoor installations – one at the Birchmore Trail at Memorial Park and another at Lake Herrick Trail,” she said. “It was a great experience for me to see people to interact with the art on the trail.

“I’m very excited for two reasons. For one, we get to bring art to the trails. After I did my first installation (at Lake Herrick Trail), I got a lot of emails and messages from people asking when I would do it again. Also, I wanted to make connections between artists working in the community and people who appreciate art.”

Artists whose work will be on display alongside Reynaldi’s include Yana Bondar, Joni Younkins-Herzog, Kelsey Wishik, Lawrence Stueck and Ben Rouse.

Reynaldi said that at 5 p.m. Saturday there will be a poetry reading and trail walk, with a dance performance scheduled for 5:30 p.m. There will be similar events at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Oct. 21 and at 5 p.m. on Oct. 22.

For more information, visit @outdoorunframed on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Lake Herrick Trail to become scene of collective's art installation