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Wanted: A Home for Foam(henge)

With the Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County slated to become a state park this year, local artist Mark Cline has been asked to move his plastic foam replica of England’s famous Stonehenge, dubbed Foamhenge, because it sits on property that will become part of the new park. Jessie Knadler talks to the artist about his quirky foam attraction, what it means to Rockbridge County and where he plans to move it.

Artist Mark Cline of Rockbridge County has created everything from giant fiberglass sharks to pirates to haunted monster museums. He created Foamhenge off Route 11 in Natural Bridge as an April Fool’s Day joke twelve years ago. During that time, the trees flanking the property on which Foamhenge sits have grown so tall you can no longer see the attraction from the highway. Then someone stole the sign directing motorists to the site. It’s an attraction that doesn’t appear to attract.

MARK CLINE: You are late, young lady.

REPORTER: Ten o’clock….!

CLINE:  It’s seven minutes after….Foamhenge is like a giant clock.  We have to be on time for this because there’s a celestial event going on right this second. Did you know this? Mercury is passing in front of the sun as we speak, so this is perfect timing, and that'll help determine where Foamhenge will end up.  But we gotta head up there because it's about at the halfway point....

We hurry up a hill to the full size Styrofoam replica of England’s ancient Stonehenge. Most of the gray paint on the foam slabs has worn away. The Styrofoam is all crumbly. The ground is defoliated from 12 years of foot traffic. Next to Foamhenge is a statue of a lunging wizard – Merlin -- because, hey, why not? The face is cast from a real person.  

In preparation of Mercury’s imminent solar passing, Mark Cline rushes to inflate six whoopee cushions and places them in a circle around the site.

CLINE:  I told you you were late. Time is of the essence. In about 20 seconds, these are going to start deflating….Are you ready? Hold on. Three, two, one!

For a split second, you kind of hope the whoopee cushions magically become flatulent because Mark Cline told you they would, preordained by the cosmos.

[Pause] Nothing happens.

CLINE:  The reality is, I don’t believe in any of this mumbo jumbo. But I am an entertainer.

Mark Cline is kind of like the wizard in The Wizard of Oz – an ordinary guy with a flare for marketing. He uses tricks, props and theatrics to make the world a little brighter, a little weirder. It was his flair for the unusual that compelled people to want to help him make Foamhenge in the first place.

CLINE:  I think people had faith in me and they wanted to be a part of something that was a little bigger than their everyday lives. A lot of people jumped in and made this thing happen.

The concrete, the lumber, the excavation services, even the foam was donated to make Foamhenge the "8th wonder of the world."

CLINE:  The idea was to bring some people in here sort of as a free piece of candy. You know, while they’re in the area and saw this, then maybe, they would spend money on some of these other attractions around.

See? Marketing 101. Lure them with a freebie, then charge for something later.

But now Foamhenge has to go. It sits on land that is being turned into a state park. He’s trying to rehome it. But he doesn’t want to move it to just anywhere. He wants Foamhenge to stay in Virginia.

CLINE:  Ideally, it would be a community that needs the tourism dollars. I had a guy offer me $10,000 two days ago for this. And I turned him down because it would have been on his private farm….And I’m not a rich person. But that was a testament to my real feelings for Foamhenge because it’s really got to continue its mission when it goes.

What exactly is the mission of Foamhenge?

CLINE:  I feel that Foamhenge has healed a lot of people. I’m sorry, [dramatic] FOAMHENGE  has healed a lot of people.

Only problem is, no one in the immediate area seems to want healing by way of Foamhenge. He tried to give it to the town of Buena Vista, but they didn’t want it. The town of Glasgow also politely declined. He said he’s surprised by this because Foamhenge, despite being invisible from the highway, does generate traffic -- and presumably, second-hand revenue.  He may be on to something: On a recent afternoon, three separate cars pulled in to Foamhenge within 30 minutes.

In the meantime, Mark Cline is busy building a new dinosaur theme park in Natural Bridge. He wants to open a wax museum in Lexington. He’s starting an online school. Want to learn how to make a fiberglass time machine? He’s your guy.

But what those about those whoopee cushions?

CLINE:  These whoopee cushions are not performing the way I want them to so I’m going to help them out a little bit.

[whoopee cushion flatulence]

Jessie Knadler is the editor and co-founder of Shen Valley Magazine, a quarterly print publication that highlights the entrepreneurial energy of the Shenandoah Valley. She has been reporting off and on for WMRA, and occasionally for National Public Radio, since 2015. Her articles and reporting have appeared everywhere from The Wall Street Journal to Real Simple to The Daily Beast. She is the author of two books, including Rurally Screwed (Berkley), inspired by her popular personal blog of the same name, which she wrote for six years. In her spare time, she teaches Pilates reformer, and is the owner of the equipment-based Pilates studio Speakeasy Pilates in Lexington. She is mom to two incredible daughters, June and Katie. IG: @shenvalleymag