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The 13-year-old nonprofit park southeast of Olympia was slated for closure at the end of this month because of founding director Myrna Orsini’s health and financial difficulties.
The group, spearheaded by Thurston County Commissioner Sandra Romero and Jack Horton, the president of the Woodland Trails Association, is working on securing funding partners to ensure that the park remains open for future generations, said Orsini, 70. It also is developing a plan for organizing the park’s infrastructure so current programs and operations can continue, she said.
Monarch, an 80-acre public park of contemporary sculpture and indoor art on the Chehalis Western bicycle trail, supports artists by offering residencies and workshops. It includes classic hedges and pearly white figures, a giant croquet set, a tree that invites visitors to attach a pink or orange ribbon featuring a prayer, a sound garden with hanging bars that can be banged with sticks, a butterfly maze and ladders that lead elf-like up the trees. Brochures guide visitors through the many works and artists.
The nonprofit park, which is east of Tenino, opened in June 1998 and has hosted numerous public exhibits.
Orsini told The Chronicle last month that she’d planned to close the park July 23, saying she could no longer maintain it properly or afford liability insurance. She had planned a private celebration of the park for Saturday.
For more information about the park, click here.
