Hola America News
June 16, 2022
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Clinton artist, Gabriella Torres, creates forest of art in revitalized park By Jonathan Turner, WHBF, OurQuadCities.com There is a magical, peaceful oasis in the middle of downtown Clinton, highlighted by a colorful, collaborative new public art exhibit in a public park. Gabriella Torres, an abstract visual artist in Clinton, created a unique outdoor art gallery — “The Grove,” on display through September in Pocket Park, 125 4th Avenue South. The large-scale abstract forest of artwork is all custom framed by local woodworker Tim Fuller in 12 free-standing frames that range in size from 4 to 10 feet in height. Placement in the public park space, mixed with the imaginative style of Torres’ art makes for a unique experience. “Oh my gosh, it’s stunning,” Quad City Arts executive director Kevin Maynard said of The Grove during a Wednesday opening reception. “Gabi has told me about
it in phases, but it’s more than I ever imagined. It’s really quite stunning.” He and Quad City Arts visual arts director Dawn Wohlford-Metallo attended to support Torres, who has received a Quad City Arts “Arts Dollars” grant (of $5,000 in 2021). The abstract Grove paintings are meant to complement the natural colors of the park. “Even though there’s a lot of big movement, big energy and gestures in here, they still are very peaceful, I think – I hope, anyway,” Torres said Wednesday. She applied for the project from the Iowa Arts Council, which encouraged artists to use some of the federal American Rescue Plan money. She got a $5,000 grant, and raised $5,000 more. Torres paid for the frames, but Fuller gave her a generous discount. “I thought I wanted to make something for my town. I knew I wanted to make abstract art accessible,” Torres said. “I wanted it to be an intimate, immersive experience. I didn’t want art that was going to be up on a wall. I wanted people to be able to walk among it and be close to it. “I wanted to create an art forest,” she said. “I wanted to activate an underused space, which this had been.” A lot of work to improve Pocket Park has been done with The Grove project, which took nine months. “Because of this project, it got so much love and attention,” Torres said, noting this is her first public art project. “I’m a dreamer – I like big projects to make big impacts,” she said. “I wanted to show people what’s possible, if you work together, put your mind to it. I am so proud of my community. This was a collaborative effort – there were so many people who made this possible. I had the idea, then I had people who believed in the idea, and believed in me. That’s really what made this possible.” From Clinton to NYC, Korea, and Europe Torres is a 43-year-old Clinton native – her mom is from Argentina and dad is from Mexico. Her father is a retired pediatrician. After working as development director for the Clinton YWCA, which she left in 2021, Torres is now a full-time artist. “I was always loved to draw and doodle, and at first I thought I would be a fashion designer,” Torres said. She focused on poetry instead – she earned an MFA in creative writing from The New School in New York City (2005), and her bachelor’s is from University of Iowa in comparative literature (2000). Torres was published in chapbooks and journals, and taught English at a university in Seoul, South Korea for six years (2009-2015). She had been an adjunct English professor at Baruch College in New York. During her time in South Korea, Torres completed a master’s degree from the University of Birmingham in England in teaching Eng-
lish as a second language. When she came back to Clinton, Torres got into painting watercolor, to connect with creativity while working on a manuscript. “A lot of the poems were published in journals, but instead of continuing writing, I totally embraced and dove into visual art,” she said. “I went from making tiny things to paintings that fill up a park.” Torres loves abstract art, similar to her lyrically abstract poetry. “For me, painting is an extension of that,” she said. “For me, the abstract form is to me very natural. I like the languages of color, of movement, of texture – how they all work together to create compositions that are kind of like poems in themselves.” Torres was invited to exhibit in group shows in Madrid, Spain, Paris and in Italy in 2021. “I was taken aback that people would be interested in my work overseas. It just resonates with people,” she said. When she paints, Torres always explores a balance, and finding balance among the pieces that make up our lives. “It’s connecting these sometimes chaotic parts, and almost embracing them to find balance among that,” she said. “We’re made up of all that. That’s real life. It’s being able to look at that from a distance in how that all works together.” How The Grove came to be The Grove was designed to be an immersive art experience, and visitors are invited to wander through the space and experience the art in an intimate, natural setting. Torres had the idea for The Grove when thinking of how to best bring art to the public, allowing for many to access art in the community. At the heart of her mission is to not only create her own art, but for others to gain access to viewing and making art, in a community where opportunities for this are limited. “Sometimes, there’s this misconception that art is only accessible to people with a lot of resources,” she said. “I don’t believe that – I believe art is for everyone. I think art is part of our human nature, to create. I hope that by making art more accessible, people can be close to it – that it might inspire them to feel more creative.” “It’s important to me because art matters,” Torres added. “It has a transformative power, and I think by having things like this in our town, it creates civic pride. I think making art accessible, it opens the doors for art to bigger audiences.” “I want to turn it into a magical land,” Torres said of the park during her remarks to reception attendees. “I want these lights, and I want to feel like we’re in this other Continues next page
