Joy Park

JOY PARK PUBLIC ART PLAY AREA

Joy Park became the site for a new public art discovery play area.

The Park is on the shores of Silver Lake, in Maplewood, Minnesota.

“The overall site design speaks to the power of the natural world and our relationship with it.”

Mystic Turtle final design

Joy Park Canoe Sculpture & Mystic Turtle installation

The sculptural park and discovery playground comprises a layered elliptical land form defined by a limestone amphitheater.

A Cor-Ten steel picnic pergola and stainless canoe sculpture share the play space with a massive mystic snapping turtle. The turtle emerges from Silver Lake through wave like berms of Little Bluestem native prairie grasses, all referencing the natural and cultural history of the site.

The mythic creature comes to life with the activity of playing children, who can climb on the turtle’s feet and tail, jump on its boulder studded shell or sit in its mouth. It is well integrated into the site, with its head and tail emerging through berms of Little Bluestem as if it were moving through the waves of Silver Lake.

Site Plan

Joy Park Artist Team

Forecast Public Art, consulted with the City of Maplewood to
select an artist team. The artist design team of, Camille Calderaro, MLA, ASLA, Fireflies Play
Environments, Inc., Bob Lunning of Lunning-Wende Associates, and artist Teresa Cox, was selected by
the City of Maplewood for the new project.

Ben Erickson, RLA, provided plan graphics and technical expertise.
Roger Grothe, of Aloha Landscaping, was the General Contractor, specializing in stone and hard surface art.

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The mythic creature comes to life with the activity of playing children

Fireflies Play Environments, Inc

firefliesplayenvironments@gmail.com

(612) 990-2969