Autumn Art, A-gourding to Cache Residents

I’ve been to art walks and gallery walks before, I’ve enjoyed some excellent exhibits, but nothing compares to the North Logan Pumpkin Walk. Area schools, scout troops and organizations from all over Cache Valley worked together to show off all their inner pumpkin-Picassos and DaVincis this past weekend in an area of the county referred to by some as North Park (where North Logan and Hyde Park meet).

Friendly neighborhood police had their Halloween party lights on and directed the multitude of pumpkin walkers who came to witness the harvest season spectacle. Elk Ridge Park, the specific site of the walk, was set up in way that directed the seemingly n ever-ending queue of visitors through a circuit of life-size scenes. The main medium used in each display was, you guessed it, PUMPKINS! And, to a lesser degree, gourds of all shapes and sizes. Each year the event has a theme, from what I was told, and this year, the theme was animation. I would say there were roughly 50 to 60 different representations of every animated movie, cartoon and kids’ show you can think of…and even some I’ve never heard of.

I have to hand it to the participants, a lot of these cartoonish pseudo-menageries were of a relatively high caliber of artistry.  I was without wine or cheese for this specific showing; however, cookies and hot chocolate were floating around. The Pumpkin Walk producers are so serious about their archive of artistic autumn exhibitions, that they have highlighted past years’ pieces on their website. According to the site, the annual event started in 1983 and has been free to the public every year since. There’s more information about the history, along with other fun extras, on the site which is accessible via the link at the bottom of this post.

I have to say, some of the highlights of the approximately quarter-mile jaunt were the “Polar Express,” “Winnie the Pooh,” “Little Mermaid,” and “Dr. Seuss” tributes. At the end of the journey was a semi-enclosed area which housed tower heaters and the more time-intensive pumpkin creations. Among these works were hollowed pumpkins with tiny, dollhouse-like displays inside them and intricately carved jack-o-lanterns showing off various popular cartoon images.

In the months leading up to this year’s event, I heard a lot of excellent reviews from pumpkin walks held in past years. “You have to go to it,” I was told. I’m not unhappy that I did. This was a one-of-a-kind display, it may not be ready for the MoMA or the Met, but they can’t have it anyway. It’s things like these that I’m finding contribute to the quaint rusticity of tight-knit agrarian communities like those in Cache Valley. Join me next year, just before Halloween, for the next installment of pumpkin fun…you know I’m not going anywhere!

Pumpkin Walk link: http://www.pumpkinwalk.com/

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