By Mandi Strapp
A detail image of Riverbox of the Sun, one of the original six Riverboxes installed in 2007.
When teachers, artists and game players come together, almost anything is possible. Little did Dublin Arts Council know that a summer project 15 years ago would turn into a beloved program and tourism magnet for all ages.
Riverboxes were conceived during a 2007 continuing education class, developed in conjunction with Ohio’s Ashland University and hosted at Dublin Arts Council. The content, prior to common usage of the term STEAM education, was cross-curricular teaching using environmental and art education to address core tenets of science, technology, engineering, art and math.
Environmental Project Launch
As part of the class, Dublin Arts Council staff reflected on City of Dublin resident surveys indicating a desire for greater access and a deeper understanding of the Scioto River which runs through the community. One of the class participants, Dublin City Schools art teacher Sharon Buda, was an avid letterboxer. Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines artistic pursuits with adventures in scenic places.
Together with fellow educators, including naturalist and Bremerton, Washington-based children’s author Ron Hirschi, the group created one of the first six Riverboxes, Riverbox of the Sun, as a letterbox on the Dublin Arts Council grounds. Five other vessels were commissioned by Dublin Arts Council that summer, each in a Dublin park with direct access to the Scioto River. The six Riverboxes were unveiled simultaneously in August 2007 in concert with the City of Dublin’s annual Mike Utt Scioto River Cleanup. Each vessel included a weather-resistant journal, an artist-made ink stamp, and environmental and historical information about the place in which that box was sited.
Inspiring Creative Discovery
The artworks have been discreetly placed to enhance the joy of discovery. The Riverboxes can be located using clues found in a paper passport or on Dublin Arts Council’s website. Each vessel is a unique piece of public art, created by Ohio artists taking inspiration from Indigenous peoples, local quarries, history, archeology, environmental caretaking, natural flora and fauna, and even Indonesian spirit houses.
IF YOU GO
Riverboxes: Bridge unveiling
Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022, noon-3 p.m.
Riverside Crossing Park, 6694 Riverside Dr.
Lower plaza, east side
Free, all ages
No need to register; come and go
Workshops, artmaking, artist talks, temporary exhibition, games, refreshments, door prizes
https://www.dublinarts.org/event/riverboxes-bridge-unveiling/
Worldwide enthusiasm
The Riverbox collection’s popularity grew quickly, garnering log book entries from all 50 states and many other countries, including Germany, Switzerland, France, Australia, Chile, Japan, Taiwan and India. Messages told of scout troops earning merit badges, grandparent/grandchild outings, business team-building excursions and a couple’s first date. Most notes contained a message of gratitude, usually accompanied by, “I didn’t even know this place existed.”
With continued exposure, Dublin Arts Council’s staff learned about geocaching, added GPS coordinates to the artworks’ locations and published the artworks as letterbox hybrids on www.geocaching.com and the Geocaching app in 2009. Additional enthusiasm about the project spurred the development and installation of several new series of Riverboxes.
Today, there are 16 artworks in the collection. The Riverboxes program has been presented at public art and education conferences in New Zealand, Scotland and England, drawing international attention to Dublin’s unique collection. Due to the number of “favorite points” marked on www.geocaching.com by enthusiasts, the site has named Dublin Arts Council among the top 1 percent of approximately 450,000 geocachers in the United States.
Tracking progress
In 2013, Mandi Strapp of Columbus, Ohio, leader of the Ohio Geo club and known in the geocaching community as MsMandi, approached Dublin Arts Council to suggest creating a challenge to collect ink stamp impressions from all of the Riverboxes to gain a trackable geocoin, an item that is highly prized by cachers. Since then, Strapp has become Dublin Arts Council’s Riverboxes coordinator, working with staff to maintain the collection with the help of community volunteer stewards.
Dublin Arts Council’s geocoins have circled the globe, with its most adventurous logging more than 54,000 miles. From 2015 through 2019, various geocachers moved the coin from Ohio to Utah, Wyoming, Texas, Hawaii, Washington, Michigan, Massachusetts, South Korea, Florida, California, back to South Korea and back to Hawaii. It was last logged in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where it went missing.
In April, Dublin Arts Council revealed its third geocoin iteration, a limited-edition minting of individually numbered, enamel overlaid rectangular metal artworks created by Pennsylvania artist Chris Mackey. The complex geocoin tells the story of Dublin and its Riverboxes through various symbols, both iconic and obscure.
New Riverboxes To Be Unveiled
Dublin, Ohio, artist Don Staufenberg is putting the finishing touches on Dublin Arts Council’s next two Riverboxes. The Riverboxes will be revealed later this summer in proximity to the Dublin Link pedestrian bridge, the longest single-tower S-shaped suspension bridge in the world.
Staufenberg’s Riverboxes will be placed on the east and west sides of the Scioto River and are inspired by both the history and growth of the community. The artworks include artifacts and deep symbolism, interpreting Dublin’s transformation from an agricultural community to a technology hub. Archways and grids are among the visual elements that tie together the community as it was and as it is today.
The Riverboxes: Bridge unveiling event – supported by City of Dublin, Cardinal Health and Puffin Foundation West – will include artist talks, workshops, and the opportunity to earn, create and exchange pathtags, a geocacher’s calling card that expresses individuality and creativity. A temporary pathtag exhibition and a Dublin Limerick Adventure challenge are also planned.
The event is free of charge, appropriate for all ages and takes place on the lower plaza on the east side of the Scioto River in Riverside Crossing Park, 6694 Riverside Dr., on Saturday, Aug. 20, from noon-3 p.m.
