The Singhampton Sculpture Forest brings joy and inspires visitors

June 10, 2024

The Singhampton Sculpture

A retired artist and a civil engineer find their creative passion…

By adopting a forest and inserting some imagination, they have created a destination
that they share with others…bwhich brings joy and inspires visitors to this whimsical place.

The project…

The Singhampton Sculpture Forest has become a bit of a pilgrimage for city people.

The acres of majestic trees provide a serene canopy for the winding trails and underbrush that surrounds some very unusual, and also very large, art installations.

There are about 30 big displays made from carved wood, bent wire, concrete, and found materials. Every one is original and unique and there is no indication from the roadside that anything as profoundly different is lurking behind the rather serene green bush.

A country road leads into this sparsely housed community in Grey Highlands County, where Mennonite farms and vast fields spread out along the 2 lane highways.

Artist Marion Bartlett and husband woodworker, Rick Bino moved here 7 1/2 years ago from the GTA and immediately loved the mature woodlot with its humble wooden house.

They replaced the garage with one larger, and built a studio above it.

Then the fun began

Bartlett had spent her career in the arts creating commissioned works and selling pottery and sculptures making a name for herself.

Bino was a professional Civil Engineer who had found his calling in woodworking.

Even though they reside in the midst of a healthy forest of mostly maple trees, no tree is ever cut here.

“The trees are a community and have survived nicely without our interference, we respect them and place art installations only where they won’t impact root systems or saplings”… says Bartlett, as a chipmunk runs past her feet.

But the art installations are a community too.

There are whimsical beings, like a human sized frog, and a wire fairy high on a maple branch. A larger than life metal angel flies, wings outstretched, from an ancient craggy barked giant. A horse standing over 6 ft tall gazes out of his home of branches and shrubs, while a metal man walks through the underbrush carrying a metal suitcase…the “man with baggage” is a metaphor for how everyone has an emotional load to struggle with, and how much better the world would be if we helped shoulder the weight for each other.

Most installations have scripted signs that explain or suggest a meaning …some words appear on benches along the trails.

Images of the many figures and shapes have appeared around the world, attracting visitors from across the globe. The internet has certainly helped fuel an interest in this whimsical place.

Local families often drop in to inspire their children, while groups of friends come just to see what’s new in the studio …or proliferating along the forest trails.

Why do they do it… Bartlett and Bino both enjoy sharing this magical experience, as they watch the surprised looks and hear the delighted remarks of those who have traveled to their special place. They are not through creating either, as drawings and plans will lead to future projects, and art is never finished….

The display is open from May until late October every day from 10am.