Hidden treasure

The Chronicle

By Julia Nicholls

March 26, 2005


TENINO — The Monarch Sculpture Park appears ripped from the pages of a bizarre fairy tale.
Frogs serenade visitors along paths winding through and past sculptures of twig huts, bells, bodies and butterflies. 
A detached hand plays a three-story game of pick-up-sticks, while a driftwood mermaid basks in the sun.
“You’ve got to admit, some of this is unusual,” visitor Gordon Bill from Centralia said.
Wildflowers, foamy ponds and a butterfly-shaped hedge maze set the canvas for 100 sculptures in the rural Tenino park. The unique gallery attracts visitors from as far away as Japan.
“It’s interesting,” co-founder Myrna Orsini said. “We get from babies in their strollers to 90-year-olds. It’s exciting that we’re starting to attract tourists.”
Orsini and her friend, Doris Coonrod, first opened the park to the public in 1998. 
The sculptures consist of glass, limestone, cedar, steel and a variety of other materials. 
“We have just about every material represented in the park,” Orsini said.

Meeting place 
The long drive up Waldrick Road provides an appetizer for the park’s visual feast. The road meanders alongside cow pastures and railroad cars, and through a canopy of moss-blanketed trees. A colorful metal butterfly sculpture quietly announces the park’s presence, along with an 8-by-10-inch sign, reading “Yes, We’re Open.” 
Bill and his wife, local artist Dixie Rogerson-Bill drove to the park for the first time Wednesday afternoon to meet two friends from Lacey. 
Rogerson-Bill said the site was well worth the 45-minute drive from Centralia, and hopes to bring her sister to the park soon.
“It’s a lot of dedication and work for the people who live here,” Rogerson-Bill said. “It’s very unique.”
Most of the sculptures in the park are commissioned and for sale. Prices range from about $500 to $100,000.
The group spent about half an hour touring the park and commenting on the sculptures.
“Is this supposed to be part of the deal?” Bill asked, pointing to an apparent burn-pile of twigs, shredded ties and signs reading, “empathy,” “compassion,” “freedom,” and “unity.” 
The group declared the pile “not a sculpture,” and agreed that knowing whether materials in the park are functional or artistic is difficult.
“Now, that over there is a picnic table,” Bill joked, pointing to one of the various tables set up for people to enjoy lunch. 

Living in art
The sculpture garden is not only a public park, but also the backyard of Orsini and Coonrod.
“It’s great,” Coonrod said, looking out of the living room window at the stretch of nature and sculptures. “It goes all the way to Christmas down there.”
Coonrod is a wood carver who grew up in Texas and worked as a federal court judge. When she heard that long-time friend Orsini dreamed of starting a sculpture park in 1994, she supported her full-force and helped to declare the park a non-profit organization. 
Orsini’s vision for the park began in 1993 at a symposium in Lithuania.
She originally thought of building the park in Europe, but the Spokane native changed her mind. 
“I thought, ‘This is ridiculous, my base is in Washington state,’ ” Orsini said. 
Orsini grew up as a foster child and always loved art, but focused on becoming a teacher. She received a master’s degree in English and history at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma in 1974. 
But seven years later, at 38, Orsini found herself divorced and confused. Her two daughters were grown, and she questioned the turn her life should take.
“You hit those mid-life crises,” Orsini said. “I asked myself, ‘What is it that I really want to do in my life and haven’t done?’ ”
Art was the answer.
Orsini, who owned an art gallery in Lakewood at the time, began taking art classes.
“Doors started opening, and I was in a position where I could take advantage of the offers,” Orsini said. 
Her first solo show was in 1985 at an art gallery in Gig Harbor.
She also worked with George Pratt in Vancouver, British Columbia, and interned at Carlo Nicoli’s Marble Studio in Carrara, Italy.
Orsini received a first-place award for a seven-foot red granite sculpture, titled “Fire Bird,” at the Plein Air Symposium in the Ukraine in 1992. She was also given the “Women in the Arts” award in Pierce County in 1992, and recently was commissioned by the Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle for an installation called “Pathways to Pride.” 
“It tells the history of the people in the community of the Asian district,” Orsini said.
The pieces are located at Hing Hay Park in Seattle, on Maynard and King streets. 

Hand up
Monarch has several programs to help launch the careers of starting artists, including a residency, “First Step,” and a program for high schoolers.
Artists may come and reside at the park for up to four months while completing a project. Up to 13 artists may stay in the house at a time. The artists receive an honorarium, and Orsini cooks meals. 
“In one of my past lives, I used to be a caterer,” Orsini said.
“First Step” allows artists pursuing a masters in fine arts a place to install their work temporarily or permanently.
“This gives them a public sight on their résumé,” Orsini said. 
Monarch also allows high school students to show work at the park and assists with funding high school projects. 
“We’re creating an environment that displays contemporary fine art, and people are finding it pleasing,” Orsini said.
She said the park is always changing and even the permanent pieces often appear new.
“It’s really tranquil so people like to come,” Orsini said. “And they keep coming back and saying, ‘We never saw this before.’ ”

Julia Nicholls is a feature writer for The Chronicle. She may be reached at 807-8245, or by e-mail at jnicholls@chronline.com.