EASTHAMPTON — There are plenty of eye-catching sculptures and installations at the sculpture trail Art in the Orchard this year — among them, a wooden hippo emerging from the ground, larger-than-life pencils hanging from trees and a house standing on two legs.
One particular sculpture, though, is especially noteworthy — not just because it depicts a man rowing down a river in a pumpkin, but because it pays tribute to the real-life story of the late Dave Rothstein, a beloved local artist, environmental lawyer and longtime Art in the Orchard participant who died last year at 57.
“He was a friend of everybody that he met,” said Brian McQuillan, who spearheaded efforts to have the sculpture on display this year. “He hugged everybody when he met them. And the fact that he wasn’t selling anything. … He didn’t have an agenda. He wasn’t trying to push one thing or another. He would just let you talk and feed off of what you say, and he was a friend. He was a friendly person to everybody.”
Art in the Orchard, which returned in August, will be at Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton this year until Thanksgiving weekend. The walking sculpture trail features works by 35 local and regional artists.
The sculpture for Rothstein, called “The Man Who Rowed to the Moon,” takes a large part of its design from the late adventurer’s 2023 excursion paddling at least 40 miles down the Deerfield and Connecticut rivers in a giant hollowed-out pumpkin in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record. (The current record, set in 2025, is 58.57 miles.)
“Anybody that could fall out of a pumpkin and then get soaking wet and then climb back in and then paddle for another day and a half — that’s pretty amazing right there,” McQuillan said.
Seven artists — Chris Woodman, Piper Foreso, Mike Perusse, John Collins, Jane Pelton Andresen, Russell Braen and McQuillan — created the sculpture, but even more people wanted to take part than were able to do so.
“Unfortunately, there were only so many ‘parts’ to be created. Dave had so many friends, there was no shortage of volunteers,” McQuillan said in a collection of notes about the work.
In it, the Rothstein sculpture, made of assorted metal pieces like wrenches, coins and cut-out butterflies, is inside a pale, hollowed-out pumpkin made of Pal Tiya, a cement-based sculpting clay. The lack of color is because the farm wants to keep the sculpture low-maintenance. “The reason we’re hesitant to paint it is because once you start painting, you gotta keep painting,” said Russell Braen, who co-owns Park Hill Orchard with his wife, Alane Hartley.
Rothstein’s cat Boomer, also crafted in metal, is along for the ride, even though he wasn’t actually part of the real excursion. “I figured Dave could use some company on his trip,” McQuillan wrote. Felted fish swim underneath them.
The pumpkin isn’t at the same size or scale as its real-life counterpart, though. McQuillan had originally designed it that way, but it dwarfed Rothstein’s sculpted body.
“Originally, I had the whole pumpkin, and Russell’s like, ‘My god, Brian, instead of saying, ‘There’s Dave Rothstein in a pumpkin,’ you’re gonna say, ‘There’s a pumpkin with Dave Rothstein!’ … So he said, ‘Why don’t we cut that in half?’” McQuillan said.
Rothstein wears a snow hat and a gentle expression as he paddles with a snow shovel, which happens to be his own real-life snow shovel, donated by his sister Pamela. That, too, is an artistic liberty: Rothstein used a kayak paddle, not a shovel, to get down the river, but he was also known for sculpting with snow and for drawing patterns in the snow in his driveway. Those also get a nod by way of repurposed basketball hoops with designs inside them that encircle the base of the “water” he paddles on.
“Everything that he did, as far as I know, was transitory, like hay, snow, ice — something that didn’t last long. That was what his art was representative of, that we’re only here for a short period of time and that everything’s transitory. I think that’s the message that he liked to send in his artwork,” McQuillan said.
There are a few other special details, including an owl on his back, because owls were his “spirit animal,” McQuillan said.
On one side of the pumpkin is a banana wearing a face mask, a tribute to similar pieces Rothstein made during the pandemic. On the other side is a “donut turtle,” which is exactly what it sounds like, holding onto the side of the pumpkin, looking up at Rothstein. Rothstein loved donuts, both as a snack and as an artistic medium. In fact, he even helped Hartley and Braen develop their cider donut recipe.
On the back is a sign that reads, “MOON or BUST,” a reference to the R.E.M. song “Man On The Moon,” which mentions controversial comedian Andy Kaufman.
“When I heard that, I immediately thought of Dave Rothstein, because Dave Rothstein and Andy Kaufman, in my mind, anyway, were very abstract, very humorous. … Not everybody got their art, but that was OK with them, because they didn’t have an agenda,” McQuillan said.
Braen said that Rothstein’s passing was “an unthinkable loss to our farm and the community. It’s one of the biggest losses that I’ve faced, really.”
“Every single time, he’d get out of his car and he’d say, ‘What can I do to help?’” Braen recalled. “It was like his trademark thing. And then before he got back in his car, he said, ‘What can I do before I go?’ That was the kind of community person he was, and I don’t think it was just here that he did that. I think it was a thing he did everywhere he went.”
Braen and Hartley will inaugurate the sculpture on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 10 a.m.
Park Hill Orchard is consulting with Rothstein’s family to see if they want the sculpture moved somewhere else after the season ends, but they’re prepared to keep it permanently.
“He paddled his way home to Park Hill Orchards,” McQuillan said.
Art in the Orchard is open during daylight hours until Thanksgiving weekend, and the farmstand is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free, but visitors are encouraged to make a suggested donation of $10 per person or $25 per group or family at the trailhead. For more information about Art in the Orchard, visit artintheorchard.org.
