New location! You can now enjoy “Upper Blush” by Matthew Geller along the Elizabeth River Trail near Harbor Park in Norfolk, Virginia.

In 2016, the City of Norfolk Public Art Commission received a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant to create public art addressing a community issue in Norfolk’s NEON District. New York-based artist Matthew Geller created “Upper Blush” to bring awareness to Norfolk’s relationship with sea-level rise and flooding.

The sculpture has been relocated to a new home along the Elizabeth River Trail in the Water Street Open Space with views looking out over the Elizabeth River.

Human response creates a teetering, seesaw like movement that mimics the ebb and flow of water and directs rainwater through drainpipes onto the ground. A canopy allows circles of light to fall through skylights referencing the moon.

This new location is one of over a dozen public art surprises you’ll find along the trail, including a sculpture by Norfolk artist, Bage created of recycled materials, in Chelsea, poems by authors who live, work or attend school in Norfolk, VA, pavement murals by several local artists and several of our very first public art program projects at Town Point Park to include the Armed Forces Memorial.

Be sure to join the Elizabeth River Trail on April 13th, 5-7pm for a free poetry reading and open mic event in celebration of National Poetry Month!