Water Way

By Paul Deery
Stone and found materials, 2016
 

Water Way by Paul Deery on the Karl Stirner Arts Trail in Easton, Pennsylvania, features two parallel, curving stone walls around a walkway.

Water Way was constructed on the trail in spring 2016 with two parallel 40-foot-long curving stone walls gradually reaching a depth of 6 feet, mimicking the curvature of the adjacent Bushkill Creek. Drawing on his knowledge and skill as a landscaper, Deery proposed the graceful and elegantly built installation for the KSAT Possible Realities II Competition held by the Grossman Gallery at Lafayette College in 2015. The proposal won the People’s Choice award. 

Two girls walk through a section of the Waterway artwork by Paul Deery, featuring walls of stone and natural and found materials, on the Karl Stirner Arts Trail in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Deery remarks, “The Bushkill Creek is an essential part of my everyday life. I cross it every day. I fish in it. I play in it. My kids have played in it. I’ve biked along it.”

His intent was that the visitor walking through the sculpture would experience the flowing path of water, fish, and birds in the creek.

Materials for the sculpture were donated by Landscape Products, Bath, Pennsylvania; Palmer Nursery, Easton, Pennsylvania; Leiser’s Rental Barn, Easton, Pennsylvania; and Clearview Nursery, Souderton, Pennsylvania; with labor donated by PM-Landscaping.

A model of artist Paul Deery's proposed Water Way installation along with related drawings and photos at the proposed site on the Karl Stirner Arts Trail in Easton, Pennsylvania.
The Water Way model, drawings, and related photos in the exhibit for the Possible Realities II Competition

Originally from the Philadelphia area, Deery has called Easton home since 1998. He works in two-dimensional and three-dimensional media.

Learn more about Paul Deery.