Horner said the location of the installation — in Riverside Park near the Lake Flower Avenue and Church Street intersection — was unintentionally personal. From the clearing where his three sculptures now sit, you can see clear across Lake Flower to 66 Kiwassa Road, where he first lived after moving to the Adirondacks in 1994.

“It’s amazing that it’s right across the (lake),” Horner said.

Horner was one of about 34 artists around the world who submitted a plan in response to the Saranac Lake Arts and Culture Advisory Board’s call for public art proposals a year ago. With his studio now located in Jay, he is the only one of the three selected artists who lives in the Adirondack Park.

“My proposal for the open call was to create three interactive sculptures that loosely or abstractly represented the three lakes,” he said. “I also wanted a sculpture where people could interact with them — move through them, around them and change with the seasons, just like the lakes.”

Matthew Horner installs one of his three stone portal sculptures on the shore of Lake Flower. When he first moved to Saranac Lake in 1994, he lived at 66 Kiwassa Road, left, with a view of the clearing where his sculptures were installed Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)

The stones are “over a billion years old,” according to Horner, and are anorthosite, an igneous rock that comprises the High Peaks. Horner sourced the largest of the three stones from Wilmington and the two smaller stones from Keene. He spent most of the summer creating the sculptures.

“What I do first is, I draw the void, the lines where I want the negative space to be,” he said. “And then I … level it in my studio and drill a lot of one-inch holes along that perimeter and then I pull that core out and grind and polish.”

Horner works predominantly in stone, though he also has explored other media like steel and found objects. He is a self-taught artist and originally moved to the North Country to be a rock-climbing guide, which he still does in the winter. With these sculptures, he hopes to add to the strong culture of public art in Saranac Lake and inspire other Adirondack communities to invest in public art.

“Some people love art and some people don’t,” he said. “I find it interesting that, in the (Adirondack) Park, there isn’t that much public art outside of Saranac Lake, now.”

Two other art pieces were installed along Lake Flower before Horner’s. Across the street from the North Elba Town House is Ohio artist Steven Gutierrez’s “Moments by the Water,” six metal oars that each depict a different facet of Saranac Lake culture and history such as the Saranac Laboratory, Lake Flower and loons.

Jay artists Matthew Horner applies two-ton epoxy, a strong adhesive, to the base of one of his sculptures in preparation for installation. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)

Across the street from Fusion Market sits Maryland artist Kirk Seese’s “The Feathers Three,” a steel sculpture of three multicolored feathers. Unlike Horner’s and Gutierrez’s installations, the piece is not permanent; it is on loan and will stay in Saranac Lake for two years.

The three installations came together “faster and cheaper” than most public art projects, according to project manager and Arts and Culture Advisory Board member Elaine Taylor-Wilde. The installations were funded with grants from the village’s Community Enhancement Project Fund, the North Elba Local Enhancement and Advancement Fund and Franklin County. Members of all three village advisory boards voted on all of the project proposals to select their three favorites before approaching the artists with offers.

Arts and Culture Advisory Board Chair Kirk Sullivan said that public art, first and foremost, benefits the community.

“Public art is supposed to … invigorate the landscape and encourage discussion and reflection and discourse and introspection,” he said. “And, to me, I think (the three pieces) embody the coexistence between humanity and nature that’s unique to the Adirondacks. Also, I think they embody the rich artistic culture of Saranac Lake. I think a big part of what public art is supposed to do is establish a cultural identity, and I think these projects really are effective to do that for Saranac Lake.”

Department of Public Works employees Andy Testo and Daniel Plowe assist Matthew Horner, left, with installing his three sculptures at Riverside Park Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)

Matthew Horner’s sculptures are seen following installation on Thursday. The leftmost stone represents Upper Saranac Lake, the center stone Lower Saranac Lake and the rightmost Middle Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)

Artist Steve Guttierez’s installation, “Moments by the Water,” sits along the shore of Lake Flower across the street from the North Elba Town House. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)

Artist Kirk Seese’s installation, “The Feathers Three,” sits close to the Horner’s installation along the shore of Lake Flower, across the street from Fusion Market. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)