Local artist connects trails and community with bridge art rail

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified what places the Tanyard Branch Trail will connect. The trail will connect Umstead Road and the Northside neighborhood. The story has been updated with the correct information about the trail. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for this error. 

The bridge on the Tanyard Branch Trail connects more than just Umstead Road and the Northside neighborhood.

This bridge and its newly installed art railing signify a connection between the trail and the surrounding community. 

The railing is comprised of 43 steel-cut silhouettes, attached to steel panels lining either side of the bridge. These silhouettes are based on photos taken of people who frequent the trail or live in adjacent neighborhoods. 

“There are people in the neighborhood that posed for the photos that can actually go and point out themselves to their friends,” Public and Cultural Arts Administrator Jeff York said. “One of the main things about public art is that it involves the public, something this bridge definitely checks off." 

The Tanyard Branch Trail is part of an interconnected greenway system throughout town that attempts to promote the minimization of vehicle impact. This trail in particular provides a connection between the Northside neighborhood and the larger trail system. 

“The greenway system is intended to do two things — the first is to give people a recreation experience and the other is to provide a facility for transportation,” Planning and Development Manager Bill Webster said. “You can be on a trail inside the city limits enjoying nature. If you want to ride somewhere, but don’t want to get in your car, now you can do it.”  

The creator of the bridge installation, local artist and metal worker Leo Gaev, was selected through a “call to artists” from the trail coordinators. From this group, three finalists were then selected to make proposals for the bridge project, and Gaev’s idea to incorporate members of the surrounding community in the art was chosen. 

“I wanted my contribution to reflect my experience in this neighborhood and part of town, the neighborly aspects that accompany my life, work, home and play here,” Gaev said. “I felt like the bridge symbolized a way to have visual interaction between the community and the trail.” 

Gaev, whose metalwork is generally more functionally oriented rather than artistic, said he wanted to keep the bridge railing playful. 

As someone who uses this trail himself, Gaev thought it would be most interesting to directly incorporate people who surround him on the trail and in the neighborhoods into the bridge. To carry out this idea, he went into these areas and took candid photos of people immersed in their daily lives.

 “It adds to the ambiance of the beautiful trail that’s already there,” York said. 

Gaev said he was grateful for the ability to interweave community aspects into his work. 

“I hope people stop and appreciate that these are snapshots of real people around them, and that those people whose likenesses are depicted are tickled by the experience of seeing themselves,” Gaev said.  

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