Patrick Shearn ’80, freelance visual effects motion picture artist and popular constructor of outdoor art installations, is a featured artist in this year's Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. His installation spans the lake in this scenic mountain town miles outside Colorado Springs during the festival which runs until July 12, 2025. Shearn was in the Class of 1980 at The Colorado Springs School before studying at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
In recent years, Patrick Shearn accepted his award in the Arts Hall of Fame at CSS, he then remarked, “I took more English classes at CSS than I did art classes. Literacy is key in today’s culture.” Patrick is a principal in Poetic Kinetics, a Southern California-based company, known for large-scale public art installations.
Patrick Shearn is an alum of CSS under the instruction of former teacher Dottie Lirette. Read more about Dottie and her induction into the Founders Hall of Fame in 2024, as the former art teacher at CSS, affectionately known as the "Queen of the Carriage House” Read more
She fondly remembers teaching Patrick and his siblings at CSS. We are excited to share this alumni story with our community!
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Learn More:
Off The Beaten Path by Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics (b. 1962) Kite Fabric (35,700 Pieces) & Rope (6,276 Linear Feet)
Gazebo Lake
Suspended above Gazebo Lake, Off The Beaten Path is an expansive aerial sculpture that engages the natural world as an active collaborator—translating wind and light into an immersive experience of movement, space, and stillness. Crafted from ultra-lightweight kite fabric engineered for responsiveness, Off The Beaten Path comes alive with the environment. As sunlight refracts through its textile surfaces and breezes ripple across its singular form, the work continually transforms, shifting with the rhythms of the day and the path of the viewer. Reflected in the water below and framed by the surrounding mountains, the piece invites a full-circle engagement encompassing presence and perception. Off the Beaten Path is the latest in Patrick Shearn’s Skynet Series. Unlike traditional public sculpture, Skynet is not fixed; rather, it is temporal, porous, and alive, constantly shifting in its ambient conditions. Its scale is monumental, yet its effect is ephemeral, rewarding those who pause to look up and engage with the moment. As the artist observed, "Viewers complete this kind of work because every moment is a unique experience of it. At the lake, you don’t just view the work from one vantage point; you move all around it. It becomes a conversation between structure, flow, reflection, as well as your perspective right now. My work is often site-specific, and I think about how it will live in the space, not just physically, but emotionally. Green Mountain Falls has a very distinct energy. It’s serene but full of life, intimate but vast. Off The Beaten Path was conceived with that spirit in mind." (Source: GreenBox Arts) Link: https://www.poetickinetics.com...
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About Patrick Shearn:
Patrick Shearn, Creative Director of Poetic Kinetics, is a visionary artist renowned for his captivating, large-scale public art installations that transform urban spaces and engage audiences around the globe. Fueled by a passion for exploring human connection, emotion, and our relationship with the natural world, Shearn creates immersive experiences that inspire wonder and introspection, captivating viewers on both visual and emotional levels.
Shearn’s artistic career started in the film industry, on notable projects such as “Jurassic Park,” “Fight Club,” and “Interview with a Vampire,”. This experience nurtured his creative spirit and honed his technical prowess, ultimately leading him to establish Poetic Kinetics, a collective of talented artists. (Source: Poetic Kinetics)
What is Green Box?
Green Box provides exemplary visual and performing arts experiences through events anchored by our annual summer arts festival which started in 2009, along with a series of programming throughout the year, with something available every single day of the year. Green Box Arts Festival runs until July 12th, 2025, learn more about exhibits and events at: greenboxart.org
