Butterfly mosaic artworks installed in two Lewes parks

Four new mosaic works of art have recently been added to Lewes parks. Designed individually by local artists Susan Allen, Terry Lake, Linda Rancourt and Sue Sandmeyer, each mosaic panel is of a butterfly commonly seen in Delaware.

Lewes in Bloom funded the materials, framing and installation. The art has been donated to the City of Lewes and will be on display for at least two years.

The artistic collaboration was aimed at adding life, color and height to existing Lewes in Bloom gardens to remind viewers that these charismatic insects rely on the food and shelter the spaces provide.

Gardens are a place to rest and meditate for humans. They also provide the vital function of feeding and protecting keystone insects such as butterflies and other pollinators. Placing mosaics in the selected locations provides a recurring theme and connects these gardens for visitors in a way that currently does not exist. Lewes in Bloom maintains large pollinator gardens with hundreds of plants in both Lewes Canalfront Park and George H.P. Smith Park.

Artworks in the Canalfront Park garden are Allen’s “Monarch on Butterfly Bush” and Lake’s “Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.” Rancourt’s “Painted Lady” and Sandmeyer’s “Monarch” are in the George H.P. Smith Park pollinator garden. Both are among the nearly 30 gardens designed and maintained by Lewes in Bloom.

Allen is a largely self-taught mosaic artist who has been creating these works for several years. She has experience with many different mosaic techniques including glass-on-glass, slate, mixed media, realism and abstracts. She has taught mosaic classes at the Rehoboth Art League and Mispillion Art League, and is a current member of the Mosaic Society of Philadelphia.

Lake has taught mosaic classes at the Rehoboth Art League and the Salvation Army’s Creative HeARTs Program. She created a stepping stone for the Lewes in Bloom garden in Cervia, Italy. She also took part in the Lewes Drawbridge mosaic mural project.

Rancourt was instrumental in the Lewes Drawbridge mosaic mural project, creating stained-glass fish, dolphins and other marine creatures. She also created a stepping stone for Lewes in Bloom’s Cervia exhibit and helped create the stained-glass fish in the Italian garden. Her Smalti Patch House mosaic is displayed at The Ruins Project, a collaborative mosaic art installation in the Great Allegheny Passage, in a former coal mine.

Sandmeyer, Art in Bloom co-chair, was project director for the Lewes Drawbridge mosaic mural. She also managed the projects for the stepping stone art and stained-glass fish creations for the Cervia exhibit, and created a stepping stone for it. Her Smalti Patch House mosaic is also displayed at The Ruins Project.

When Lewes won the international Communities in Bloom contest in 2018,  Lewes in Bloom was invited to design and plant a garden in Italy in advance of the Cervia Città Giardino open air Floral Art Festival in May 2019. The stepping stone portion of the garden showcased Delaware icons including horseshoe crabs and tulips.