Burlington Arboretum unveils interactive guitar sculpture honoring John Currin

A brightly colored, 12-foot aluminum guitar now anchors the Burlington Arboretum’s Children’s Garden, turning John Currin’s remembrance into something children can climb, strike and photograph. The sculpture was unveiled in Burlington as a public art piece designed by Casey Lewis of Beechwood Metalworks, a Burlington native whose work mixes fabrication with play.

Built with a ladder on the back for older children and metal pipe strings that produce different pitches when struck, the guitar was designed to be touched rather than just viewed. Impact Alamance and the New Leaf Society placed it in the Children’s Garden as a tribute to Currin, whom Impact Alamance identified as a founding board member and former president and CEO of Alamance Regional Medical Center. Impact Alamance said the installation was intended as a photo opportunity for children and families. Currin died unexpectedly in April 2023.

The public art piece also fits into a larger push to use the Burlington Arboretum at Willowbrook Park as more than a neighborhood greenspace. New Leaf Society said it has enhanced more than 75 unique sites across Alamance County since 2007, and described the Arboretum as its largest project to date, part of a multi-year partnership with the City of Burlington to turn a quiet park into a passive recreation destination. Burlington Recreation and Parks will maintain the sculpture, keeping the city directly responsible for a piece that is meant to be used by the public.

The project had already cleared a public step last year, when Burlington City Council accepted a $25,000 donation for the guitar sculpture on Aug. 19. That earlier approval included details about the materials, dimensions and safety measures, signaling that the city and its partners were treating the installation as both artwork and play structure. The result is a memorial that works in two directions at once: it honors Currin’s connection to music, family and community while also giving the Arboretum a new attraction designed to draw children into the space.

Beechwood Metalworks adds another local layer to the project. The company says it was founded in 2002 by Casey and Emily Lewis, both UNC Greensboro graduates with BFAs in metal sculpture. With a Burlington-made sculpture in a Burlington park, the installation keeps Currin’s name visible in a place built for neighborhood use, not just remembrance.