Head of School's Blog

I am getting more and more excited about our new sculpture park! My wife Lisa, who is the Director of the Dublin School Nordic Center, wrote a grant request and received money to add sculptures to our trail network. We thank the Putnam Family and Foundation for this generous gift! Lisa, Earl Schofield, Erika Rogers, Mary K. ‘25, and I are evaluating artist submissions and have already chosen our first few installations. We hope to begin installing them in November. Alumnus L.P. Runyon completed the first sculpture and we will be dedicating it over the Family Weekend.

Faculty member Katri Jackson is currently running our Work Gang program and has generously supplied us with regular student and faculty Work Gangs to help prepare the designated trail for the sculpture installations. The students were super helpful this weekend as we cleaned the woods and prepared various spots for the sculptures. I find it always helps to have a clear goal for the students to understand why we are doing a given project. We are using the Placid Trail at the Nordic Center for the park. The students were impressed with the beauty of the trees, rock walls, and grassy paths in the area where we were working. We aim to use the art to inspire more people, especially young people, to get out in nature and enjoy the power of our local environment.

I was so impressed with our young workers' attitude and sense of collaboration. They are literally leaving the woodpile higher than they found it.

To access the Placid Trail, simply drive to the Nordic Center on Dublin Road and park near the top of the parking lot. Follow the uphill road from there and after a couple of hundred yards, you will reach the Placid Trail loop. It is one of the most beautiful trails in southern New Hampshire. And if you disagree after visiting it, I owe you a Moxie soda…

If you're eager to learn more about this project, please join us outside the Putnam Gallery at 12:30PM next Friday as we recognize alumnus L.P. Runyon, whose work "Merge" will be among the first sculptures installed on the trails.