Art installation due at Prime Desert Woodlands
LANCASTER — The Prime Desert Woodland Preserve will get an augmented reality public art installation by artist Nancy Baker Cahill, next summer.
The Lancaster City Council, on Nov. 8, approved the public art installation and authorized $125,000 from the city’s Capital Improvement Budget to go toward the project.
Augmented reality superimposes a computer-generated image on the user’s view of the real world via an app on the user’s mobile device. For example, online retailer Amazon lets users see how a product they are considering buying would look in their home.
Cahill’s augmented reality project will add to the existing educational installations at Prime Desert Woodland Preserve. The artist is known for her augmented reality works. She launched her own free AR mobile app, 4th Wall, in early 2018.
Cahill’s Prime Desert Woodland project will launch, in the summer of 2023.
“The City of Lancaster and (the Museum of Art and History) is excited to work with artist Nancy Baker Cahill to bring a unique public art installation to the community,” Sonya Patterson, director of Parks, Arts, Recreation and Community Services, wrote in an email.
Cahill’s interactive, outdoor augmented reality artwork will be a site specific, permanent installation at Prime Desert Woodland Preserve.
“Cahill is currently conducting research on the history of the Prime Desert Woodland area and conducting site visits,” Patterson wrote.
“The research will inspire the ideation of the project, which includes the conceptualizing of the artwork, drawings in virtual reality, building the architect of the artwork and creating choreography/ movements for the artwork.”
Once Cahill’s work is finalized and installed, Prime Desert Woodland visitors will be able to download her free app, 4th Wall, on their phones to explore Prime Desert Woodlands in a new way.
Cahill’s art will also be part of a separate exhibition at the Museum of Art and History, in 2024. The specifics of that exhibition are still being worked out. Her augmented reality work at Prime Desert Woodlands will be highlighted in the exhibition. However, the piece installed at Prime Desert Woodland will be there permanently and not on display at the Museum of Art and History.