Artful Durango: River Trail 2

By Eilene Lyon

For this issue of art along the River Trail through Durango, I’ll be focusing on pieces in and near Santa Rita Park, just south of downtown. I previously featured a couple works in the park itself: a metal sculpture by Mick Reber and a bronze of two miners.

Everything in this post has been installed more recently. Let’s start with a “planet” missing from my first River Trail post about the solar system.

Nearby is an installation built by welder Kameryn Dean, constructed from a shipping container and scrap metal.

Heading north, just before crossing the pedestrian bridge and following the trail under the highway to the park is a new mural by Mariah Kaminsky, done in 2024, featuring a quote by Edward Abbey from Desert Solitaire. I attempted to stitch together photos by section, but the results were not very good. So here is the entire piece from a distance, plus the first two sections showing Abbey. The far right section is the featured image above.

One of the “features” of Santa Rita Park is the Durango Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was completely rebuilt within the past decade. It was promised to reduce the odors of the old plant, but it was a promise not kept. The next few pieces are found on or near the plant.

One wall of the treatment plant along the river trail is a rainbow of colors with painted water drops containing images of wildlife and cultural touchstones for Durango.

Feature image: Portion of the under-bridge mural by Mariah Kaminsky.