This is the entrance to Winding Way, a path created by Tracey Price and Cindy Simon.
While shopping for a pumpkin at the YMCA Pumpkin Patch, look for the public art installation “Upcycling Color 2022.” Located in Simon Meadow at the corner of Temescal Canyon Road and Sunset Boulevard, Winding Way offers those strolling a chance to see how items can be recycled and turned into art.
Winding Way is a nature trail that was created five years ago by Cindy Simon, a cardboard and plastics artist, and Tracey Price of American Growers, a local landscaping company.
The two took an unused and overgrown section of the meadow, cleared out the debris and filled the area with colorful birdhouses, wooden bridges, stone walls and several seating areas, all shaded by native coast live oak trees.
Each fall, Price and Simon add a few enhancements. “This year, under the direction of YMCA executive director Jim Kirtley, we installed “Pali Path”, a ¼ mile walking path which reaches behind Winding Way and curves along the hillside,” Simon said, noting that native plantings surround the path, attracting butterflies and small birds.
The Palisades residents have added native grasses in the dry rock bed, and grape vines that climbing up and over the many arches of the garden trellis.
At the far end of Winding Way, Simon and Price added two large pegboards, and buckets filled with colorful golf tees, serving as art station for creative exploration.
The pair called this year’s installation, “Upcycling Color 2022,” and Simon said, “We filled Winding Way with upcycled art that is colorful and fanciful. We created colorful hanging cardboard tubes (upcycled from a roofing company’s trash) from the large coast live oak tree.
“We repurposed wooden clothespins (found hanging from the window of a real estate office in Saratoga Springs, New York) and strung them throughout the garden trellis,” Simon said. “We rescued branches from the tree trimmer’s garbage truck and covered them with yarn, creating elaborate webs. And we dusted off our old brooms, mops, rakes, and even a big red snow shovel and turned them into friendly scarecrows who welcome you to Winding Way.”
There are several scarecrows created from everyday objects in Winding Way.
Price and Simon said that with this art installation, they “hope to awaken an open-minded ‘it’s okay to think differently’ perspective of art.”
The two say their motto is “if you exit Winding Way with a smile on your face, we have done our job.”
Price and Simon thank YMCA Executive Director Jim Kirtley, who “supports us in every art endeavor we suggest:” the employees of American Growers for the care and maintenance of Simon Meadow and Winding Way: Julio Guerra from Judge-Guerra Quality Painting, who transported the scarecrows and installed the pegboard art station; and their families David, David Jr., Bennett and Audrey Price, and Bill, Willie, Griffith & Taylor Simon and Jason & Lulu Martuscello, “for being our biggest cheerleaders.”
This is one of the creative scarecrows featured along the nature trail.
Cindy and Tracey…local treasures… thanks for all you both do!