BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Darshana Bolt was fascinated by mermaid imagery. The Burlington artist would often retreat to a secluded part of the Burlington Bike Path, where she would sit next to a marble sculpture depicting a mermaid to contemplate and make art.
After her death three years ago this month, her many friends would stop by and leave flowers or candles to remember her by. That silent tribute went on for weeks, then months.
“People just knew that this was a special place for her,” said her sister, Serenity Bolt, who lives in South Burlington. “I realized this was an unofficial monument.”
Now, Serenity Bolt is planning an official monument in memory of her sister, who took her own life in July 2016 at age 31.
Serenity Bolt is raising money for another mermaid sculpture along the bike path near Lake Champlain that would reflect her sister’s artistic spirit. A bench attached to the sculpture will give people the opportunity to contemplate, and visitors will have the chance to create a rubbing out of a mermaid woodcut designed by Darshana Bolt.
“It’s not about her,” Serenity Bolt said Wednesday as she stood near the existing mermaid sculpture that inspired her sister. “I wanted to have a place for other people to find inspiration and something that reminds people that Burlington has always fostered that creative spirit.”
Darshana Bolt was heavily involved in the Old North End street party known as The Ramble, the latest edition of which happens this weekend. That was just a part of her artistic legacy in Burlington. Her creations could be found everywhere in town, from Radio Bean to the annual street-performer-filled Festival of Fools on Church Street.
A friend of Darshana’s recommended Jericho sculptor Chris Cleary for the job of creating a mermaid sculpture in her memory. He plans to take a 6-foot-by-6-foot block of marble and carve it into a mermaid sculpture that contains a small bench. The sculpture will include a mermaid design from a woodcut made by Darshana that visitors can rub with pencil or charcoal onto paper.
Cleary was happy to take the assignment. “Absolutely,” he said, “especially because it was for a fellow artist. Our world is kind of small and we all have to take care of each other.”
He didn’t know Darshana Bolt, but Cleary wants to make sure he captures her spirit. Darshana was “famous for her wonderful hugs,” according to her sister, and Cleary said he wants to incorporate that in the sculpture. The mermaid’s arms will reach out as if to hug anyone sitting on the bench.
“You kind of channel the people” when making a sculpture, Cleary said. “Sometimes you can feel the energy whether you met the person or not.”
Serenity Bolt hopes that by this time next year the mermaid sculpture will be in place along the Burlington waterfront, possibly near the existing mermaid sculpture across the bike path from the Vermont Railway building south of Perkins Pier. The sculpture could be surrounded by a 10-foot-by-10-foot garden filled with flowers Darshana liked, according to Serenity Bolt. She hopes to time its unveiling with a possible gallery show in Burlington featuring Bolt’s art.
All of that depends upon a couple of factors - an online fundraiser that has gathered just over $5,000 of its $9,000 goal, and a planned bike-path refurbishing that will start in the vicinity of the existing mermaid sculpture this fall. The city’s Department of Parks, Recreation & Waterfront has put its support behind Serenity Bolt’s plan.
She is aiming for a spot where people will feel invited to stay, draw, sketch and think. “Being creative takes space and time,” Serenity Bolt said.
The sculpture will also bring a degree of peace to Serenity Bolt, whose voice cracked when talking about her sister, a sign of the pain she still feels.
“A personal aspect for me is to make something out of all this grief,” Serenity Bolt said, her voice wavering. “Grief can be a giant block and you don’t know what to do with it, but it can also be permanent, like a rock.”
“It’s about leaving a legacy of artistic spirit and creativity for everybody.”
Online: https://bit.ly/2SPcVWA
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Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com
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