The Awakening

This past weekend, John and I attended the unveiling of Chesterfield's newest public sculpture, The Awakening. It was a big event beautifully handled by the staff of Chesterfield Arts and also by the community.

For some inexplicable reason, I was initially a little lukewarm about the project, however, after hearing artist Seward Johnson talk about his work, I started getting really excited. I love his commitment to public art - the thought that people from all walks of life be able to experience and enjoy art - and that they connect and relate in new ways. He has such lofty goals, but I watched this exact thing happen as the sculpture was unveiled. Children clamored over it, people posed, boundaries were simply erased. Personally, I was WOW-ed. What an amazing impact, geez, I could only dream that I would touch people in such a way.

I was also quite intrigued that he was first a painter before moving into 3 dimensional work. This is what he and I were talking about in this great picture taken by my friend Bud Hirsch. Isn't it cool how you can see part of the sculpture above our heads?

I snapped tons of photos myself, of The Awakening and also of the other Johnson sculptures around Chesterfield. I am making a piece to be exhibited at Chesterfield Arts. Obviously I will update you with photos once I am finished. In the meantime, click on over to Chesterfield Art's site to see the full sculpture including shots of delivery and installation. Way cool, I am glad it is here and thrilled to have been part of the event.