Symbols around town “in remembrance of the flood”
CLARIFIER
The Clarifier is a collaborative community public art from the concrete ruin of a former wastewater treatment tank. Numerous citizens have contributed to the mural, so it seemed a fitting place to have a 2013 Flood remembrance piece.
A tile on the north side of the project indicates the highwater mark of the 2013 flood. Although the Clarifier sustained minimal damage during the massive flooding in Lyons and many neighboring communities, the town and its citizens worked together in the long process of recovery. A mosaic oval of love in the eastern night sky rim is a tribute to displaced Lyons residents and those whose homes were lost in the flood. The blue concentric waves represent the support Lyons received as it rebuilt.
BELL OF RENEWAL
Both looking at and creating art can be healing. Sculptor and painter Anita Miller, Lyons, has worked with people who suffered from post traumatic stress (PTS) and found that art was an excellent way to touch their souls. She combined those healing skills with her memories of how a few Native American nations feel that the owl is a symbol of change and felt it fit what Lyons had experienced: a change from death to rebirth since the flood.
James Moore a Ft. Collins sculptor knew how to sculpt birds, and helped her bring her image to realization.
The Bell of Renewal consists of a great horned owl sitting on top of an approximately six-foot-tall tree (which acts as the stand), and it is building a nest, symbolizing Lyons manual road to recovery. A large bell is hanging from the branch, and its bas relief of owlets symbolizes the rebirth of Lyons after the flood. On the back of the bell is a bas relief of Lyons Steamboat Mountain, St. Vrain River and surrounding landscape.
The sculpture was installed in September 2020, next to the Fourth Street bridge, along the St. Vrain River, across from the Rocky Mt. Botanic Gardens. There is a plaque for you to read, and feel free to ring the bell.
CONFLUENCE CIRCLE
