Township Manager, Joseph M. Hartnett, announced today that the Township has selected local artist Tom Nussbaum, and landscape designers Eric and Diane Von Hoffman from Von Hoffman Landscape Architecture to construct the entryway to the All Children’s Playground at Edgemont Park. Nussbaum and the Von Hoffmanns submitted a joint proposal – the former will design the entraceway and adjacent fencing artwork and the latter the landscaping.

The Request for Qualifications was issued in the spring and stipulated that the name -All Children's Playground - and donor recognition be visible, while keeping in mind the memorial nature of the park. Nearly 20 artists responded.

“We received responses from all over the world,” said selection committee coordinator Jane Susswein. “The finalists happened to all live in Montclair.”

Susswein, who is a member of the Montclair Arts Council Public Art Committee, worked with former People With Disabilities Committee Chair Susan Irby, Community Services Director Steve Wood, local artist Elizabeth Smith-Jacobs, Friends of Edgemont Park member Lina Paulus, and Hoop-a-Paluza Executive Director Lori Robinson in the selection process. Hoop-a-Paluza was a major donor to the All Children’s Playground construction.

“We are thrilled by the job done by our Selection Committee in conducting a competition for this project and in their recommendation of a design that is going to endure for generations,” said Hartnett. “The goal of the Township and the Selection Committee for the entryway to the playground was to have an attractive work of art that was highly functional and that also recognized the donors who supported the project and helped make it possible. The artist and designers chosen certainly incorporated these concepts in their roposal,” said Hartnett.

Nussbaum’s winning design consists of a whimsical archway with animals and characters heading toward the playground carrying wheels of various sizes to a stack of wheels that decorate the archway. Various fish and sea creatures adorn the fence surrounding the playground.

“In the spirit of the playground, I have created an imaginary world where the characters and animal invite children to use their imaginations,” said Nussbaum. “Many of these creatures are carrying, pushing, riding on, and otherwise transporting wheels of different sizes toward the entrance. This activity is symbolic of a diverse community coming together, and the wheels are symbols of mobility that the characters have incorporated in their world at the All Children’s Playground.”

“Nussbaum’s design is not only very aesthetically pleasing, but also captures the playful nature of the facility while recognizing our donors in a serious and permanent way,” the Manager declared.

The landscape portion shows a widened entrance to accommodate strollers  and  paving is placed adjoining the entranceway for bikes and strollers.  Four shade trees will be planted on either side of the walkway and, once they mature, will offer a shady place to sit and watch ball games in the field and children in the playground.

The Manager thanked the members of the selection committee “for doing a great job for the community.” 

Cost for the entryway project is $25,000 and Hartnett indicated that the Township hoped to get it completed this fall.