Petersburg residents celebrated the temporary in late June with art installations, live music, and reflections on the beauty of the natural world.
The Ephemeral Art Show, a highlight of the Rainforest Festival, took place on the forested north beach of Petersburg. Dozens of people gathered at low tide to witness and participate in the event. Rainforest Festival organizer Sunny Rice was seen crouching down with a stick in hand, etching a haiku into the sand. Her poem, titled “Ode to the Tide,” read: “Words scratched in the sand, until ocean comes flowing. Moons forget me not.”
“Poetry is kind of my thing,” Rice said. “So, when we decided to do it at Sandy Beach, I looked at the tide tables, and I was like, oh, it’ll work, I’ll etch it into the sand, so the waves will come and wash that away.”
Rice’s poem was one of several pieces capturing the transient spirit of Petersburg’s Ephemeral Art Show. Conceived by the town’s Rainforest Festival Committee and Arts Council, the show combines tactile art displays with live music performances. Since its inception in 2020 as an outdoor alternative during the COVID-19 pandemic, the show has become a summer staple.
“We decided to have something outdoors, and ephemeral art came first to mind because you could go out, use things from nature, and create an artwork — whether it’s a pattern on the forest floor or the beach, or a weaving in the trees, or even twist lichen around a tree,” explained Rainforest Festival committee member Chris Weiss.
Ephemeral art, by nature, is temporary. Made from materials that decompose naturally, these artworks are designed to blend into — and eventually return to — the environment.
“It’s art that doesn’t last. It will degrade or maybe blow away,” Weiss said. “The piece that I’m working on right now has beads that I made out of flour. So they should melt eventually. People do mandalas with flower petals and stones and sticks. There have been woven grass nests or braiding large swaths of grass. It’s endless.”
Music also played a significant role in the celebration. The Moving Music Concert Series, another pandemic invention, brought live acts to various locations across the beach and nearby woods. Matthew Wintersteen, stationed with his travel guitar by an art display on Cabin Creek trail, said, “We’re playing music out in nature, and that seems—there’s already so much beauty in nature, it feels right to go out and play music in it. I like seeing the cool leaves, and shells, and all the stuff people have been making.”
Sarah C. Hanson Hofstetter, creator of the Moving Music Concert, also performs with her guitar and ukulele.
“Well, music is the temporary art,” Hofstetter said. “We can record it, but life moves so fast, and these moments where we’re actually making music together — there’s so much there, and then it all just disappears.”
The event encouraged audience participation by hosting sing-a-longs, a community mandala, and a sand casting event for children. However, supervisor Marilyn Menish-Meucci encountered a slight hiccup with the latter activity.
“You dig a little bit of a depression in the sand, and then put in any found objects you want to make a design,” Menish-Meucci. explained. “And then we pour the plaster over. We let it dry for 20, 25 minutes. And then the theory is that when we dig it out, we’re going to be able to see what we put in there. What we found is that some of the lighter weight things float. So I’m trying to hold it right now — the floaters. Yes, it is for the kids! I’m the adult.”
The kids did not seem too upset. Siblings Duncan, Elizabeth, and Kylie enjoyed watching their mom, Gia Goodridge, perform with her band, the Ukuladies.
“I feel honored that I was able to come over with my mom and watch her play,” Elizabeth said.
“No offense to the people out there, but I mostly like my mom playing.” Kylie added.
Attendee Abbey Hardie was impressed by the talent of her whole community.
“I was so inspired, knowing some of these local artists and seeing their work translated to something everyone can see and even add to. It’s like walking in a museum that’s going to get rained away, but that’s what makes it special — that it’s going to wash away with the tide — it’s kind of both tragic and uplifting.”
The Ephemeral Art and Music Celebration is dedicated to promoting environmental stewardship and creative expression. Its organizers and artists hope the show prompted people to appreciate the art that the natural world creates every day.
