Artwork celebrating birds, insects and all things that take to the sky will fill The West Woods Nature Center next year as the Geauga Park District prepares to open applications for its “On the Wing” community art show in early 2026.
Artwork celebrating birds, insects and all things that take to the sky will fill The West Woods Nature Center next year as the Geauga Park District prepares to open applications for its “On the Wing” community art show in early 2026.
“(This is) a community art show where we invite artists in the Northeast Ohio community to bring their artwork to The West Woods (Nature Center) and we will display it for a few months,” said Holly Sauder, Geauga Park District events coordinator. “There’s always a theme with our community art shows and (for) this one … flight is the inspiration. So, all the artwork will feature some kind of nature in the air, in flight.”
The theme must be the main focus of the artwork, Sauder said.
“We want a picture of a bird with a tree in the background, not a tree with a bird in one little section,” she added.
The theme is chosen based on its correlation to the park district, Sauder said.
“The last community art show was trees, it was all about trees,” she said. “(It’s) just something that connects to our focus and our mission as a park district and what we do to preserve nature and the natural spaces.”
Applications are open for all ages, including a children’s category.
All types of media including sculpture, carvings, photos, paintings and fabric art will be accepted, as long as it falls under the theme, Sauder said.
Applications will be accepted online from Feb. 12 to March 12, 2026.
Sauder said she hopes to contact artists of their acceptance immediately. Accepted artwork can be dropped off March 16 and 17.
Pieces will be on display at The West Woods Nature Center from March 28 to July 26 next year, Sauder said.
“We’re keeping it up for a good long time … so people aren’t hampered by late, snowy Marches,” she said.
