ART YARD

Yesterday, Liz and I were given a most wonderful tour of Richart’s “Art Yard” in the modest town of Centralia, WA. We stopped not knowing what to expect – what we found was absolutely rad.

Signs in the front yard invited us in – we helped ourselves to the marvels of his outdoor sculpture creations. My imagination whirled, I saw space-robots, great knight’s graveyards, and was swimming a thousand miles under the ocean. Richart’s sculptures thrust me into the creative mindset I remember having when I was 9 – I was having the daydreams that only a child could have.

Around the corner came Richart, a 76 year-old former high school art teacher, more than happy to show us his creations. He and his small pudgy dog gave us a tour of his yard. We followed him as he brought us to a cathedral, into a coliseum (explaining that no town could be on a map without one), and introduced us to a sculpture of a hairy-chested woman. How did this all start, we asked, where did this come from? “I was 50 years old, I had all these degrees, but they didn’t mean anything until I told myself I would be an artist. So the next day I woke up, and I was an artist.” It’s as easy as that, he explained, you just say it and its there if you want it – “you give it a word, and that gives it meaning.”

This stop on our trip, has for me, been the most personally inspiring thing encountered so far. Who knew 2x4’s, Styrofoam, twisted rebar, and whatever else Richart gets his hands on, could provoke such wonder! Wake up tomorrow and be what you want to be.