Engagement/Shelter Walking Path

Deb Todd Wheeler, 2016 (Boston, MA)

Bronze A-Frame Shelter and Carved Walking Sticks

“I got the inspiration for this piece from our family trip to Bhutan, when we hiked to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery. In the parking lot was a pile of walking sticks. There is something about a walking stick that makes me feel like a professional hiker.

Deb Todd Wheeler lives, works and teaches in the Boston area. Her work explores the human impact on the natural world. When we met at Alnoba, I found her already foraging in the woods for pieces for her art. I feel she is really good at getting people to pay attention to being outdoors. Deb is so at home in nature and understood the property right away.

Notice there are two supply areas: one at the bottom and one at the top because, I have found in life that sometimes we need help on our way up and sometimes we need help on our way down.”
–Harriet Lewis

For the shelter project at Alnoba, Wheeler drew from her experience at an artist residency program she attended in the wilderness of Northern Iceland. She was one of nine artists who walked an ancient Viking trail, which had been closed off for 200 years. Their only mission was to make work along the way. At the time, Wheeler was inspired by a Kierkegaard quote: “I have walked myself into my best thoughts.”

The walking sticks are made from indigenous wood from the surrounding forest. The sticks are both hand carved and branded with quotes and images from Henry David Thoreau and Tim Ingold.