Immersive, Large-Scale Outdoor Art Installation Opening at Mount Trashmore Park Oct. 17

A new temporary public art installation is opening in Mount Trashmore Park in October. Sanctuary by Australian creative team Skunk Control officially opens with a free community celebration event, 4-8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17. 

Presented by the Virginia Beach Cultural Affairs Department, the installation is a large-scale outdoor art experience inspired by the wonder and complexity of the natural world. More than 4,000 individual elements come together to create an environment filled with movement, light, color and sound. It will be located at 310 Edwin Drive near shelter 3 in the southeast corner of the park. 

Throughout Sanctuary, kinetic flowers standing more than 17 feet high, moving and singing birds, more than 1,300 butterflies, and other imaginative forms create a landscape that feels both familiar and unexpected. 

“This is exactly the kind of opportunity we hoped to create when the City made a stronger investment in the arts,” said Virginia Beach City Councilmember Michael Berlucchi. “We wanted to bring art to places people already love. Mount Trashmore brings people together from across Virginia Beach, and Sanctuary will give them something new and exciting to discover there. The arts bring us closer and create memories we carry for a lifetime with the people we love. I can’t wait for families and friends to experience it together.” 

Sanctuary will be on view from Oct. 17 through Dec. 16 during regular park hours. Special evening access to Sanctuary will be available until 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the installation, excluding Halloween, allowing visitors to experience the installation illuminated after dark. Because Sanctuary changes with the light and time of day, visitors may want to experience it during daylight and return in the evening for a different view. 

Art, science, engineering and technology all play a role in Skunk Control’s work. The collective brings together artists, scientists, engineers, designers and makers. In Sanctuary, these disciplines come together through kinetic sculpture, optics, lighting, solar technology and other technical elements. Many of the effects visitors will experience are rooted in science, from the movement of the sculptures to the ways light, color and reflection change depending on the environment and the viewer’s perspective. 

“Sanctuary is the most ambitious installation we have created to date, bringing together ideas and elements we have explored over many years on a much grander scale,” said Nick Athanasiou of Skunk Control. “We want people to enter this environment, wander through it and continually discover something new as the work changes around them.” 

Sanctuary is supported by the City of Virginia Beach’s arts and culture dedication, established by City Council in 2024, which allocates 20 percent of admissions tax revenue to arts and cultural initiatives. The dedicated funding is expanding opportunities to bring significant arts experiences to residents and visitors throughout Virginia Beach. 

Learn more about Sanctuary at VirginiaBeach.gov/sanctuary.  
 
About the City of Virginia Beach Cultural Affairs Department
The Cultural Affairs Department engages residents and visitors through meaningful arts, heritage and cultural experiences to connect and strengthen communities. The department assists and directs the Virginia Beach Arts & Humanities Commission, coordinates the City's Public Art Program, oversees the Virginia Beach History Museums, provides contract management for the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, serves as the liaison with Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the ViBe Creative District, and the Virginia African American Cultural Center, and serves as a resource to local arts and humanities organizations. 

About Skunk Control
Skunk Control is an independent multidisciplinary art collective based in Melbourne, Australia, led by founder and artist Nick Athanasiou. The group brings together artists, engineers, scientists, designers and makers to create large-scale public art experiences. Nature, light, color, optics and movement are recurring elements in its work. Skunk Control’s installations are designed to be accessible to people of all ages while also grounded in science, engineering and technical innovation. The group’s work encourages exploration and gives visitors opportunities to discover how art, science and the natural world can intersect.