ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Early this morning, just two weeks after the public installation was erected, University of North Carolina Asheville officials took down “Batland,” an outdoor art gallery and scavenger hunt featuring hand-painted bats by over 25 local artists.

Batland was designed and implemented by Spencer Beals, a local artist passionate about “Save the Woods,” a community effort to preserve 45 acres of urban forest surrounding the Five Points neighborhood of North Asheville. Beals wanted the art project to spotlight what makes the acreage so valuable to the local community after UNC Asheville, which adjoins and owns the property, announced plans to develop new infrastructure on the land last year.

Bats begone

According to Beals, UNC Asheville began to uninstall Batland around 7:30 a.m. this morning, Tuesday, Jan. 6.

“They came in here early with a police car, multiple vehicles. They had multiple teams going out, sweeping through the woods, and taking down this entire art installation that was for the community,” Beals said.

Beals said that he was told the woods were unsafe for the community to explore, and therefore, Batland must come down.

“UNC Asheville values community engagement and artistic expression on its campus. However, the South Campus property, in its current condition, is not suitable for public events,” wrote Eden Bloss, UNC Asheville chief marketing officer, in a statement.

“The area includes hazardous terrain, is not ADA accessible, has limited visibility in certain locations and lacks formal infrastructure such as marked trails, lighting and emergency access. Because safety is our highest priority, and it is incumbent upon us as a public institution to maintain campus safety, activities that invite public participation are not authorized on the South Campus property.

“The University notified the artist of the safety concerns and provided three days for them to coordinate removal. When the installation remained in place beyond that notice period, the University carefully removed the items today. The coordinating artist was present during the removal, expressed appreciation for the manner in which it was conducted and departed with all artwork intact.”

Batland was designed as a massive scavenger hunt for families, birders and community members. Beals erected an 8-foot-tall hand-drawn map of the acreage, marked with the locations of each bat and the artists who created them, and laminated copies for bat seekers to carry.

“Kids could grab a map and go on a scavenger hunt, walking all throughout this 45 acre trail system. Finding bats, finding treasures, finding baby bats,” Beals described. “There were over 25 hand-painted bats that were over 4 feet long.”

Beals said that since Batland went up, he had seen more people than ever before strolling through the woods, a sentiment he said was echoed by other friends and collaborators.

“This last weekend, I mean, I had 10 people reaching out to me saying this place was more filled than they’ve ever seen it,” Beals said. “This place was catching wind. There’s tons of people reaching out to me who are devastated because they didn’t get to see Batland while it was up.”

“I’m devastated,” interjected Justin, a UNC Asheville alum who contributed a “small, green bat” to the project as a member of Beals’ “Sketchbook Club.” The club made 30 small bats for the project to accompany the 25+ larger Chiroptera by local artists.

“Just this morning, I was gonna see if a little bit of it was still up, and I’m just like, well, dang,” Justin said. “I may have missed Batland, but at least I get to experience these woods while they’re still up.”

For Beals, who poured $2,700 of his own money into the project and many sleepless nights – “My girlfriend thinks this project has taken over my whole life, and she’s not wrong, man!” – the removal of Batland might have been a major heartbreak. However, the artist said he only feels more motivated in the aftermath of the art project.

“It’s obviously disappointing to see it come down, but the reason why I’m not fundamentally disappointed is because this is only the beginning,” Beals declared.

“Because, in taking down a community art project that was bringing all these families into the woods, what you’ve said is, ‘Okay, we are against community, nature and art,’ and if you come to Asheville and declare yourself against community, nature and art, you’re gonna see what happens. There’s a lot of people who are not gonna back down from defending their urban forest, especially when we have so little access to awesome parks within the city limits.”

In taking down a community art project that was bringing all these families into the woods, what you’ve said is, ‘Okay, we are against community, nature and art.’

Though UNC Asheville removed Batland from the woods, they did not destroy the artwork. Beals was at the site during uninstallation and was able to carry the bats back to his car for safekeeping.

“They gave me my art back, which is something I’m very grateful for,” Beals said. “I thought that was a classy move, and I think destroying a 45-acre urban forest is an unclassy move.”

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CORRECTION – 7:05 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 6 – A previous version of this story described Spencer Beals as a leader for “Save the Woods.” Though he is a supporter of the organization, he and Batland are not directly affiliated with the group.