🏖️Lake Erie Sand Sculpture - Lake County
Four sand sculpture works-of-art to be created across four lakefront parks in Lake County!
Lake County’s lakeshore will be the center of attention on Saturday, July 12 with the inaugural Lake Erie Sand Sculpture Tour – Lake County. Four lakefront parks along Lake Erie will feature large, artistic sand sculptures created by Northeast Ohio’s own, world-renowned, professional sand sculptor Carl Jara. Locals and visitors alike are invited to explore Lake County’s lakeshore to see each of these amazing public art pieces and take part in the festival at Headlands Beach State Park.
One sand sculpture will be located at each of the following lakefront parks across Lake County:
Headlands Beach State Park and Fairport Harbor Lakefront Park have both been recognized by numerous national publications as some of the best beaches on the Great Lakes and in the country. Madison Township Park features a quiet, sandy beach and is a hidden gem on the east side of the County. Osborne Park in Willoughby, however, doesn’t have a beach…yet! The City of Willoughby recently announced and started a nearly $10 million project which will not only protect the park from erosion, but it will also create two beaches which will provide visitors with direct access to Lake Erie, which is not possible in the park’s current conditions.
Professional sand sculptor, Carl Jara, is a native Northeast Ohioan and has been involved with public art sand sculptures for over 30 years. Carl is excited for this event and says, “Being able to take a great, existing event that began at Headlands Beach State Park and grow it to showcase more public art pieces in these additional lakefront parks in Lake County gives me great pride.” Carl has worked and competed in more than a dozen countries and three dozen states winning well over 100 hundred medals including 14 from the World Championships. He has also been featured in four seasons of Sand Blasters and Sand Wars on the Travel Channel. Carl plans to begin work on the first sculpture in Osborne Park in Willoughby on June 20 and will have all four sculptures finished for the festival on Saturday, July 12. For more about Carl and his work visit www.artcleveland.com.
On Saturday, July 12 there will also be a festival at Headlands Beach State Park which will be the epicenter for the Sand Sculpture Tour. The festival at Headlands is organized by the popular Lake Side Mystic Flea and will run from 12 to 4 PM. The festival will feature over 80 artistic vendors, several food trucks, family activities as well as live music.
Lake County features a total of 18 lakefront parks from Lakefront Lodge in Willowick to Arcola Creek Park in Madison Township. One of the main goals of this event is to not only encourage folks to check out the four amazing sand sculptures, but to also bring attention to the other 14 lakefront parks across the County.
The sand sculptures are being commissioned by Tour Lake County, Lake County’s official destination marketing organization, with the help of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Friends of Headlands Beach State Park, the City of Willoughby, Lake Metroparks and Madison Township.