Monday, 03 September 2012
Holiday Art Tour – Year Two
Unbeknownst to me when I moved to Lake Oswego two years ago, the town has a large and rich commitment to public art – in particular, sculpture in the Gallery Without Walls program. And by god, it shows on nearly every street corner, in every park and in odd little nooks and crannies that surprise pedestrians.
A year ago on Labor Day, I gave you a small tour of some of these sculptures and this year, I am expanding on it.
The Lake Oswego Arts Council arranges for new sculptures to be installed throughout the city for two-year rotations. From time to time the public is asked to vote for favorites that are then purchased for the permanent collection.
The most recent people's choice winner is Vincent by Keith Jellum that I showed you last year:
Throughout this blog post, the artists' names link to their websites. These works are a mixture of those in the permanent collection and currently on loan.
Here are two from artist, Devin Laurence Field. The first is Swoop II followed by Zephyr:
From George Tobolowsky, there is The Road Through Texas:
Life on the Bubble by David Middlebrook:
Now a couple of people. This is Dancer by Ken Turner:
This is Family from Katy McFadden:
I haven't counted, but I would guess there are more sculptures depicting animals than any other subject. This is Bearly About by Steve Tyree.
Here is Heron from Bud Egger:
I like the usability of Rams' Head Bench from Ken Patechy:
It changes over time but right now my favorite is Kissing Toad by Jim Demetro:
The Elder Storytelling Place is taking a day off for Labor Day. It will return tomorrow.
Posted by Ronni Bennett at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post
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What a nice way to foster the arts.
Posted by: Olga | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 05:59 AM
I've been in enough Lake Os art shows to have learned about the Lake Oswego forefathers and how they forged their lives (pun intended) in the Iron business. It seems so fitting that your civic leaders would embrace sculpture. Great post!
Posted by: Celeste@aracnet.com | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 06:12 AM
You give me a delightful start to my day. Love the hare. :)
Posted by: Mage Bailey | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 07:40 AM
You are a lucky duck to be surrounded by so much beauty. May it always be so. :)Dee
Posted by: Dee | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 07:56 AM
This article rebuts all the complaints about "ugly" public art.
And your rabbit is a cousin to the Giant Red Leaping Rabbit that jumps two stories high at the Sacramento Airport! (We also have a three-story-tall precariously balanced stack of decades of discarded luggage. Sounds ugly, but it makes you laugh.)
Happy Labor Day to all. Let's win this election.
Posted by: Shelley | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 08:03 AM
Great post Ronni. What wonderful talent.
I laughed when I saw the Kissing Toad.
While stopped at traffic light yesterday, I chose not to turn on red, since there have been a few accidents at this particular intersection.
The light changes quickly so it’s never a long wait, but for some it’s never quick enough. As I waited for the green light, I heard a horn honking behind me, not once, but three times. I went on green and the young woman who did the honking looked over at me as we rode side by side on the highway shaking her head back and forth. Both arriving first and still side by side at the next red light, I proceeded to honk my horn at least three times forcing her to look over at me and threw her a kiss just like the toad.
Posted by: Claire Jean | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 08:27 AM
Bearly, Heron and Kissing Toad get my vote. I love all three.
Having art to look at when you walk makes the journey fun.
Posted by: Darlene | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 08:28 AM
I enjoyed looking at each one but if I HAD to vote for the one I liked best, it would be Swoop II...
Posted by: Nancy | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 09:06 AM
So cool -- I'll go with the kissing toad as well.
Posted by: Tom Sightings | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 09:20 AM
What a great commitment to art and how it enhances people's lives!
Posted by: Grandmother (Mary) | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 09:27 AM
I can see why Vincent won last year. Such whimsey both in face/expression and pose!
Posted by: Christine | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 02:48 PM
Lucky you -- how wonderful to have so much art on the streets. I'm partial to the three bears but I also less realistic sculpture like the dancer.
My town has a couple of very nice bird sculptures on Main Street but it could certainly use many more.
Posted by: June Calender | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 03:37 PM
Two years already!?! Yikes!
Posted by: Dianne Rodway | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 09:47 PM
Enjoyed your art photos. I, too, enjoyed your Kissing Toad, but Dancer is intriguing.
Always intended to get to our downtown with my camera in recent years as they've had a location on our thoroughfare -- I use the term loosely -- with a piece I especially liked -- a magnificent rearing horse. The night before it was to be replaced with a new piece (which I hadn't realized was about to occur) vandals broke the horse off at it's hind leg ankles. I read the sculptor was going to be able to repair but I did have to wonder how anyone could be so callous and insensitive.
Posted by: joared | Monday, 03 September 2012 at 11:42 PM
Walking around LO has always been a favorite activity for our family, the art is a large part of that. I really like McFadden's "Family."
Posted by: Celia | Tuesday, 04 September 2012 at 08:41 AM
So wonderful that a city appreciates the arts that much!
Posted by: Nikki Lindqvist | Wednesday, 05 September 2012 at 12:11 AM