First international Sculpture Walk Springfield artist takes on climate change in sculpture

Sculpture Walk Springfield welcomes its first international artist for the public art installation's 2022-23 season.

Mike Salisbury, a multimedia artist from Guelph — a southwestern city in Ontario, Canada — visited Springfield for a week to install his work "Call NOW!" and chat with members of the community.

"Call NOW!" is located in Jubilee Park, across North Jefferson Avenue from Druff's. The sculpture is hard to miss: a telephone booth built around a tree in the middle of the park. Or depending on how one views it, a tree growing from within a telephone booth.

The sculpture is the second iteration Salisbury has created. The first, "Local Calls" is near Guelph in the middle of a forest. A landowner who wished to protect his property from city development commissioned Salisbury to make the piece, which can only be viewed by a hike through the property.

During his artist talk at Missouri State's Art and Design Department Brick City on Monday, Salisbury explained that though both sculptures are similar, their varying locations symbolize different meanings.

To Salisbury, "Local Calls" represents technology being reclaimed by nature, while "Call NOW!" represents how technology hinders the natural world.

“We do horrible things to the natural environment," Salisbury said during his talk. "What if ('Call Now!') was in fact representing, not so much the forest emerging from it victoriously to save the day, but perhaps it's kept in a city park like a pet? This phone booth is in fact keeping it from growing out.”

Salisbury encouraged viewers to get in close, as the sculpture contains "Easter eggs," hidden features or messages.

“('Call NOW!') is a call to action for sure," he said. "It’s only $1.50, or if you read it a little closer … there are little, hidden messages in the signage. Perhaps it’s act now because it’s only 1.5 degree Celsius that you need to think about."

The 1.5 degrees Celsius is in reference to the 2015 Paris Agreement, an international climate change treaty. Its goal is to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

As for its location, Salisbury said he scoured downtown Springfield using Google Earth. Jubilee Park's downtown location and available trees were ideal for the sculpture. Once the location was decided, Salisbury mailed the deconstructed telephone booth to Springfield. Upon arrival last week, Salisbury was assisted by members of Sculpture Walk and Missouri State sculpture students.

While Salisbury is Sculpture Walk's first international artist, Sculpture Walk is also Salisbury's first international exhibition. The collaboration is special to both entities and actually began a few years ago.

Salisbury said he applied and was accepted into Sculpture Walk before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, border restrictions made mailing the sculpture and getting to Springfield himself a difficult task. As restrictions began to lift in both Canada and the United States, Salisbury and the Sculpture Walk team began to plan for the 2022-23 season.

During his artist talk, members of the community learned not only about "Local Calls" and "Call NOW!," but also Salisbury's other works, which he described as "anonymous collaborations."

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"I think it's a polite way of saying that people are going to mark (the sculptures) up and change them," he said.

One of Salisbury's popular sculptures, "Truth Phone" is located in Toronto's Graffiti Alley, a four-to-five block sanctioned alley for public street art. The sculpture was created in reflection of the Canadian government's responsibility for cultural genocide, Salisbury said.

The sculpture features a payphone with four telephones, painted yellow, red, black and white. Salisbury said he was inspired by the indigenous Medicine Wheel, which indicates the four races of the planet. A blank phone book was also featured, which encouraged viewers to "share anything as long as it is true."

Salisbury created "Truth Phone" with its own meaning but he was also interested in seeing how the sculpture would be altered as a part of the collaborative outdoor space.

"Everything is subject to change (in Graffiti Alley)," he said. "This piece was also an exploration in how this would be modified by visitors."

Since its establishment in summer 2020, "Truth Phone" has been altered with stickers, new graffiti tags, repainted features and more. Salisbury said he enjoys keeping up with the sculpture via Instagram, when visitors share photos. Salisbury chronicles the changes on his Instagram, @mikesalisbury.ca.

Looking toward the future, Salisbury said he would be interested in creating more work for the Springfield or Ozarks community, which he described as unique.

“(Springfield) is doing a fantastic job promoting art and this idea of using art to improve the quality of life in the community," he said. "Very few (cities) do it and very few do it well. I'm as happy to be here as they are to have me."

Sculpture Walk Springfield's first season opened in April 2016 with 13 sculptures installed through downtown. This year, Sculpture Walk includes 32 sculptures around downtown, Jordan Valley Park and the Rountree neighborhood. A printable map of the collection can be accessed on the Sculpture Walk website at sculpturewalkspringfield.org/printable-map.

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Sculpture Walk Springfield welcomes first international artist