Life Lines

On June 28, 2021, Mayor Anno Wietze Hiemstra unveiled the new "Life Lines" sculpture at De Hertenkamp in Rolde. This statue was introduced to replace the previous statue, "De Vreugdedans", which disappeared from the Hertenkamp in July 2018 after theft. "De Vreugdedans", a bronze sculpture made by the famous artist Kees Verkade, was owned by the municipality of Aa en Hunze. Despite the loss of this work of art, the board of the Hertenkamp Rolde Foundation decided that 'something' had to be created to fill the void.

The initiative for a new work of art was taken by the board of the Hertenkamp Foundation, which contacted local wood artist Jeroen Boersma. The idea arose to create an oak sculpture, where the wood came from a tree that had to be removed due to renovation work at the De Boerhoorn meeting center. This ensured that the tree, albeit in a different form, was preserved for the village of Rolde.

The artwork, called "Life Lines", is made entirely from the wood of this English Oak, where Boersma used the natural growth structure of the tree to create unique lines in the artwork. It symbolizes a harmonious fusion of nature and art, where the creative input of the artist merges with the organic beauty of the tree. Funding for this project was made possible by various fundraisers and donations, including those from the Rossing-Koops Foundation.

Several variants/copies of this work of art have been made. The copy in the Hertenkamp is number 4.