Junk Trail

Before the Junk Trail, there was the junk pile – a 10-year accumulation of hoarder-mentality debris. Most of the junk consisted of remains from ephemeral art projects that had fallen into disrepair. These projects had previously been installed in the I-Park landscape as environmental sculptures.

The Junk Trail, a reorganization of these materials made accessible by an internal trail, was conceived and built in 2010 by sculptor Marco Dessardo. The purpose of the trail was to make these interesting, but otherwise waste, materials conveniently available – but also inviting – to future artists for re-use.

While Marco’s concept resulted in a wonderful piece in its own right – and the materials continued to be utilized as intended in the creation of new works on the land – an ongoing maintenance/support system did not develop as hoped. After 5 years, the trail had devolved into something that was less engaging.

In April of 2016, with much hard work, the trail was re-organized by artist Michelle Echenique. While honoring the original spirit of Junk Trail, Michelle brought to the task her own enthusiasm and energy – as well as her personal compositional style.

In honor of its 15th Year Anniversary, I-Park is pleased to introduce to you the Re-Imagined Junk Trail!