Celebrate the 10th Year of Art4Trails with a Public Art Bike Tour & Artist Talk
Sunday, June 28, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Free and open to the public
Join Rochester Art Center in celebrating the 10th year of Art4Trails with a special Public Art Tour & Artist Talk on Sunday, June 29 at 1:00 PM. This free event kicks off with a short presentation at the Rochester Art Center with the featured artists, followed by an optional guided bike tour led by We Bike Rochester to view this year’s new sculpture installations along the city’s bike trails.
Attendees who prefer to drive may visit the sculpture locations independently—the artists will be stationed at their works from 1:30 to 2:30 PM to speak with visitors and answer questions.
At 2:45 PM, the public is invited to gather at the old Silver Lake Fire Station (corner of 7th Street and Silver Lake Drive NE) to witness the ceremonial burning of “Dispersal,” a decommissioned Art4Trails sculpture constructed from invasive buckthorn. Artist Tobias Gilbert will be on site to speak about the work and answer questions.
New Art4Trails Sculptures – 2026 Installations:
“Sunburst” by Patricia Stephens
River Landing – Behind the Government Center, across the river on the bike trail near 99 3rd St SE, Rochester, MN 55904
“The Third Place” by Olivia Mulvey Morawiecki
Location: Mayo Park
“Under Her Wing” by Judd Nelson
Location: Slatterly Park Arts District near the playground, 950 11th Ave SE, Rochester, MN 55904
Artists will be present to speak about their work, offering insight into the inspirations, materials, and messages behind their sculptures.
“Sunburst” by Patricia Stephens
“Going outside after days of gloomy weather, you look up into the sunshine. Eyes and arms raised, you take in the sunshine. In doing so, you become one with the universe. This sculpture is my interpretation of how we are all part of the world we share.” – Pat Stephens
Patricia Stephens is from Chicago, Illinois. She graduated with a BFA from Northeastern Illinois University with specialties in ceramics, metalsmithing, and sculpture and is a first-year MFA student at MCAD with an emphasis in Public Art and Collage. Her sculptures have been displayed at the Chicago Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit and Outdoor Environmental Projects in Beijing China.
“The Third Place” by Olivia Mulvey Morawiecki
Olivia Mulvey Morawiecki is a Minnesota-based artist whose practice merges sound, sculpture, and community engagement to create interactive public works. Her installations invite audiences into spaces of collective reflection, healing, and resilience.
Working with natural materials, tuned chimes, and participatory design, Olivia builds site-responsive environments that foster both solace and play. She carries a relentless curiosity into her practice, paired with the practical discipline to translate complex ideas into grounded, community-rooted experiences.
In collaboration with stakeholders, neighbors, and partners, Olivia works to create public works that balance vision with feasibility and feel genuinely held by the communities they serve.
“Under Her Wing” by Judd Nelson
Under Her Wing depicts a family of three egrets, a mother and her two young, gathered in a quiet moment of protection and care. The birds are formed from 16-gauge steel, shaped through hammering and hot forging to capture their graceful forms and subtle movement. Each figure is carefully positioned and permanently welded to a heavy steel base plate, ensuring both structural integrity and a sense of grounded presence.
Raised in Minnesota, Judd Nelson finds ongoing inspiration in the outdoors, observing wildlife and engaging with the region’s varied landscapes. He began welding at age 15 and was accepted into his first juried exhibition by 17. He earned an Art Education degree from the University of Minnesota with an emphasis on metal sculpture.
After college, Judd taught on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota and later in public schools in Boise, Idaho. Teaching remains central to his practice, including recent years leading Teen Welding at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts. For 14 years, Judd worked on the nationally broadcast PBS series Hometime as lead builder, collaborating both on and off camera. Summers are spent in Grand Marais, where he maintains a sculpture studio and teaches at the Art Colony.
Art4Trails Page: https://www.rochesterartcenter.org/art4trails
Map of Installation Sites: https://tinyurl.com/5vbhadj
Thank you to our generous volunteers: Molly Althoff, Jaclyn June Johnson, Patrick Keane, Mary Ellen Landwehr, Mike Nigbur, Anthony Rostvold, Jacob Smithburg and Gloria Torres-Herbeck.
Thank you to Rochester Parks & Recreation for continued support. Thank you to our friends at We Bike Rochester for supporting this project.
About the Art4Trails Program
This new temporary series of sculptures is part of the Art4Trails program, adopted by Rochester Art Center in 2023 from a group of dedicated volunteers who established the program in 2016. As part of the program, an annual open call brings in proposals and artists are selected through a juried process to create and install a sculpture for one year on the bike trails. Art4Trails has successfully shared 42 public artworks in Rochester over the past ten years.
About Rochester Art Center
Rochester Art Center is a museum of contemporary art located along the Zumbro River in the heart of historic downtown Rochester, MN. Founded in 1946, the Art Center hosts an ongoing schedule of exhibitions of work by local, regional, national, and international artists; dynamic educational programs for all ages; and an array of community partnerships and visitor engagement initiatives. Through world-class exhibitions and programs, the Art Center presents a welcoming, integrated, and diverse experience that encourages questioning, creativity, and critical thinking.
