Space Walk Hits Warp Speed For Carnival
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A new art installation in Water Valley, a Cosmic Space Walk, was completed this week just in time for the Watermelon Carnival. The space walk includes signs of each of the eight plants starting with the sun in City Park and stretching east up North Court Street. The crew responsible for the installation is (from left) Robert Maze, Denny Chiles, Drew Chiles, James McCormick, Jamie Scott and Bill Warren.
WATER VALLEY – A space voyage that took flight in early July hit warp speed to be orbital in time for the Watermelon Carnival. The art installation – a Cosmic Space Walk – features the eight planets on metal signs starting with the sun in the northeast corner of City Park.
The space walk stretches over 2,000 feet east up North Court Street with the planets spaced to scale the orbital distance of the solar system. One foot in the cosmic space walk equals 1,388,059.7 miles. Neptune, the furthest planet, is located at the top of the hill near Davidson Elementary School. The inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are located only a few feet from the sun in City Park.
James McCormick, Jamie Scott, Bill Warren, Drew Chiles and Robert Maze posed behind the first sign in the cosmic space walk.
“It is a vortex of creativity and imagination coming together with people who are like-minded,” Jamie Scott explained about the effort.
Scott and James McCormick requested approval from city leaders during the July 5 monthly meeting, a formality to ensure some of the signs could be placed on city-owned property. They also obtained permission from other property owners where the signs are located before launching the project.
McCormick shared that as soon as they got started, they realized they needed to work fast and have the installation ready for the carnival.
“We initially didn’t think it was going to happen this fast,” Scott added.
Local artist Bill Warren soon joined the effort as the space on the north wall of John Reynolds’ building across from space walk starting point in City Park was perfect for a mural. Warren located a 1950s image of a children’s toy rocket blasting into space and soon transformed the image on the wall, working a week and a half during the hot summer afternoons.
“I was thinking I could get it done,” Warren said about the tight carnival timeline. “This makes a really nice combination project.”
Next they enlisted the help of Robert Maze to help erect the signs and Drew Chiles to link information about the planets to the Dancing Bear Sanctuary website operated by Jamie Scott and his wife, Linda Scott. Each sign has a QR code to allow space voyagers to learn about the solar system during their flight.
“I was born in the space age, I watched the lunar landing when I was 10 years old at the Johnson
Space Center,” Scott said. “From then on I loved science.
Scott and Linda Scott, also plan to incorporate information on the Cosmic Space Walk’s website, the
dancingbearsanctuary.com/space-walk-information, with state-approve science curriculum that can be used as a teaching tool for local students.
The new art installation will be dedicated by Watermelon Queen Anna Clair Shaw Saturday during carnival. The dedication is scheduled around 12:30 p.m., just after the watermelon weigh-in and auction.
