Wellness in the Wild, monthly trail club, wind phone launch at Josephine Sculpture Park
Published 3:00 pm Sunday, March 29, 2026
Josephine Sculpture Park has new partnerships and programs planned this year. JSP Founder Melanie VanHouten spoke about the new offerings during her annual update at Wednesday’s fiscal court meeting.
Wellness in the Wild is a new community health initiative the park is launching.
“We always have known that getting outside, spending time outside and spending time with art is is good for people’s mental health and physical health and we have promoted that but not created programming specifically around it,” she told elected leaders. “So, this is much more intentional and we’ve developed some specific activities, which we’ve gotten funding for from the Kentucky Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts to do some of these programs.”
Expanding on healthy living, JSP is partnering with WalkBike Frankfort to host a monthly, social all-paces run or walk — Sculpture Trail Club — the first Wednesday of every month starting in April and running through October. Registration is free and participants can explore the park’s two miles of trail at their own pace.
Local artist Mollie Rabiner will be creating a wind phone, which is a disconnected telephone set in an outdoor both and is designed for people to have one-way conversations with deceased loved ones. The wind phone will become part of an international database.
“Ours will be the coolest because it’s going to be a sculpture made by a sculptor and it’ll be here,” VanHouten said, adding yoga will also start at the park.
Red Oaks Forest School Art Club, which began last year, is a free program for all ages and abilities. It is the second Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to noon and runs through December.
“People can just register with them and they provide all the materials and then it happens at the sculpture park,” VanHouten explained. “So that’s been a wonderful opportunity and experience. Again it’s intergenerational and people of all ages and abilities. So we’ve seen a lot of really interesting excitement around that program.”
Through a partnership with Wild Birds Unlimited and Bluebirds of Central Kentucky, Josephine Sculpture Park is the home to 11 nesting boxes. Trained volunteers maintain the boxes, count the fledglings and record data, which is shared with other bluebird trails across the region.
“It’s really exciting to be able to be part of providing habitat for bluebirds. Their habitat is really scarce and it’s challenging for them to find homes. So, we want to try to encourage that.”
JSP’s annual Barn Raisin’ is scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 7 with Mrs. Milly Ann Stewart selected as guest of honor. Presented by Expree Credit Union, tickets are on sale now at www.josephinesculpturepark.org/barnraisin
“This is our annual fundraising ‘gala.’ I use the word ‘gala’ in quotation marks because it is very much outside, but we have live music and a dinner and a very curated mission-driven auction where you can get some really special mostly activities and experiences some artworks.”
Last year, the sculpture park hosted two music events — the symphonic stroll and Soundscape.
The symphonic stroll, a collaborative event with the Lexington Philharmonic, marked its fifth year in 2025. Thirteen musicians played at eight different sculpture sites for the more than 700 attendees and 37 volunteers. VanHouten said 31 Kentucky counties were represented in attendance.
Music for Soundscape 2025 was provided by Appalatin and featured two artists, cultural connections and partnerships with 12 organizations. JSP first held Soundscape before the COVID-19 pandemic and the event returned last year as a daytime event.
“It was in July and it was about 100 degrees and we decided that was maybe not the best decision,” she remarked.
“This year we will be doing Soundscape again, but it will be like it used to be, which is an evening event in the summer from 6 to midnight. If you remember, that is mostly a music event with food trucks and hands-on activities, but we also light sculptures throughout the park, which is a really unique experience that people don’t get to experience any other day of the year except that day.”
Following a two-year sabbatical, JSP’s artist in residence program returned last year. This year the park has two artists in residence — Ceirra Evans, an Eastern Kentucky painter who exhibits around the world, and Shawn Smith, a Texas sculptor.
“Ceirra has never made a sculpture before and one of the signature aspects of our residency program that’s very different than most others is that we encourage artists to submit proposals to create things that they may not necessarily have done before. We really want them to push their own boundaries and to learn new skills,” VanHouten noted. “She’s essentially gonna create in three dimensions one of her paintings. And her paintings are very personal narratives about what it is to grow up in Eastern Kentucky and the kind of stories around food that happen in her life.”
Smith will be in Frankfort for three weeks in September and was selected from 67 applicant proposals to create a unique piece.
“The sculpture that he’s planning to create is sort of inspired by bug eyes, like articulated eyes, but those are all going to be little insect hotels and those will be created with the community,” she stated. “It’s to create a habitat for native insects and pollinators that is also a sculptural object.”
Josephine Sculpture Park is located at 3355 Lawrenceburg Road and is open every day from dawn to dusk. Admission is free.
