Tag Archives: Downtown Mesa’s Permanent Sculpture Collection

May17

Two Horses

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Two bronze horses stand facing in opposite directions. The texture of the sculpture is irregular, as if the bronze is thickly applied.
Two Horses by William Barnhart

It’s difficult to adequately capture the sculpture Two Horses in one photograph because the piece has many angles to explore. I’d taken one shot of it (the photo above) during my visit to downtown Mesa in the spring of 2016, but I never thought this photo was enough. During my exploration of a few blocks of downtown Mesa with Nolagirl in March of 2018, I was able to get a few more shots.

Close up of the face of a bronze horse. The texture is irregular, as if the bronze is dripping.
This bronze horse has quite an expression on its face.

Two Horses was created by artist William Barnhart. According to Barnhart’s website, he received a BFA from Brigham Young University in 1984 and continued with graduate studies at Arizona State University in 1985. He is a resident of Mesa and has been a professional artist for over 30 years.

You can see more of William Barnhart’s sculptures on his webpage, which shows both sculptures in a pre-cast state and those that have been cast in bronze.

I love the texture of this piece, which begs to be touched. The plaque on the base of this piece explains how Barnhart made the horses look this way.

The sculpture’s unique surface was created by layering wet plaster over modeled forms of two horses, then allowing the plaster to run and drip. The effect is a texture with a random, organic appearance over a highly controlled form. Subsequent processes were used to transform the sculpture into its final bronze state.

One bronze horse turns its head to the right. The other horse is turned away from the viewer. We see its tail. The surface of the sculpture is irregular as if the bronze is thickly dripping.
A different view of the two.

Two Horses can be viewed on the southwest corner of Main and Center Streets in downtown Mesa, AZ. You can find this piece of public art and many others on the guide to Downtown Mesa’s Permanent Sculpture Collection.

Two bronze horses on the corner of a city street. The bronze is irregular as if it is dripping from the statues.

I took all the photos in this post.

Mar23

Scrap Book Boy

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Scrap Book Boy by Tom Bollinger,

When I first saw the Scrap Book Boy sculpture on Main Street (between Robson and Macdonald streets) in the Mesa, AZ permanent downtown collection, I thought it was a companion piece to Booked for the Day. In the former piece, a young boy rests on his stomach looking at a big book, while in the later piece a girl sits on a bench reading. I wondered if they were by the same artist. A little research showed me the two sculptures are not related except by proximity.

Dan Hill created Booked for the Day, and the creator of Scrap Book

Booked for the Day by Dan Hill

Boy is Tom Bollinger. Also, Scrap Book Boy seems to be a one of a kind piece, while different versions of Booked for the Day are on display in more than half a dozen cities.

Tom Bollinger’s biography calls him

a visual artist, living and working near Phoenix, Arizona. Born in North Dakota. Bollinger is a self-described “Sculptor”. He is inspired by his observations and life experiences and inspired by what he describes as the “hoped for..” in humanity. Bollinger seeks, by way of his exploration, to discover what is beneath the surface of what we are and what we see.

I was unable to find much information about Scrap Book Boy online. Bollinger’s list of Commissions and Placement referes to it as

Boy with Book, cast bronze, life size figure, Public Art Program, Mesa, AZ.

However, the plaque on the ground next to the young boy looking at the book uses the name Scrap Book Boy and tells a sad story of the loss of Bollinger’s younger brother.

Upon closer inspection of the book, you really can see the pictures etched from the original scrapbook owned by the senior Bollinger.

So while this piece of art commemorates the sad loss of a child, it also incorporates a cool technique that lets the viewer share in parts of the family history.

To learn more about public art in Mesa, view the brochure that goes along with the self-guided tour of the city’s sculpture collection. You can also read other posts I’ve written about public art in Mesa like the Big Pink Chair, the Mesa Pioneer Monument, Quackers, and Humpty Dumpty.

I took all the photos in this post.
Nov26

Play Me, I’m Yours (Part 2)

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The second Play Me, I’m Yours piano I encountered during my evening stroll along Main Street in Mesa, AZ was in front of the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. This one was looked like a cloudy blue sky, and the sides shimmered in the late afternoon sun.

If you missed previous posts, http://www.streetpianos.com/ says,

Touring internationally since 2008, Play Me, I’m Yours is an artwork by British artist Luke Jerram. Reaching over 10 million people worldwide – more than 1,500 street pianos have already been installed in over 50 cities across the globe…

Sparkling side view of piano #11

Sparkling side view of piano #11

According to his website,

Luke Jerram’s multidisciplinary practice involves the creation of sculptures, installations and live arts projects. Living in the UK but working internationally for 19 years, Jerram has created a number of extraordinary art projects which have excited and inspired people around the globe.

Jerram has a set of different narratives that make up his practice which are developing in parallel with one another. He is known worldwide for his large scale public artworks.

The Street Pianos webpage dedicated to this piano (#11) says it was decorated by artists Kyllan Maney and Erin Peters and the Creative Catalyst team. It was donated by Mesa Arts Center and sponsored by Advanced Eyecare of Arizona.

Back view of piano #11

Back view of piano #11

What I didn’t know until I looked at the aforementioned webpage dedicated to this particular piano is that it was lit up at night. How cool is that! (Very cool, I think. I wish I had seen it all lit up.) The area behind the panel that reads “Play Me, I’m Yours” apparently glowed electric lavender, and a bright blue light shone from underneath.

The white and blue color scheme reminded me of clouds in a blue sky. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the serene sky imagery and the gliding birds next to the shimmery shake of the sparkles on the sides. (Are the shimmers meant to represent the stars in the night sky?)

Again, I wished I could play this piano, but I made myself content with simply striking a few keys and and enjoying the art.

I took all of the photos in this post.

Bird detail from piano #11

Bird detail from piano #11

Nov25

Play Me, I’m Yours (Part 1)

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In the spring of 2016, I was exploring the public art on Main Street in Mesa, Arizona. One of the coolest things I saw was a Pepto-Bismol pink piano labeled “Play Me, I’m Yours.” What was this about? I had no idea, but loved the presence of a piano out on the street available for anyone to play. As I walked further east on Main Street, I encountered two more street pianos. Very interesting, I thought. I figured the pianos were part of downtown Mesa’s permanent sculpture collection and didn’t think much more about them until I sat down to write this post.

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Front view of piano #6

According to the Street Pianos website,

Touring internationally since 2008, Play Me, I’m Yours is an artwork by British artist Luke Jerram. Reaching over 10 million people worldwide – more than 1,500 street pianos have already been installed in over 50 cities across the globe, from London to New York, bearing the simple instruction Play Me, I’m Yours.

Located on streets, in public parks, markets and train stations the pianos are temporarily available for everyone to play and enjoy. Play Me, I’m Yours invites the public to engage with, activate and take ownership of their urban environment. Decorated by local artists and community groups, the pianos create a place of exchange and an opportunity for people to connect.

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Back view of piano #6

It’s really cool to find out the pianos I encountered are part of a global phenomenon. But wait, it gets better!

The page of the Street Pianos website dedicated to Mesa  says,

Mesa Arts Center presented Play Me, I’m Yours, from March 1 until April 9 2016, as part of the celebrations of a major milestone: 10 years at their beautiful location in Downtown Mesa, AZ.  24 playable and artistically enhanced pianos were featured, in Downtown Mesa and at other satellite locations throughout the city.

What? Those pianos were there for a limited time only, and I got to see them? How cool is that? (Very cool, I think.)

I’m going to do three blog posts about the three Play Me, I’m Yours piano I encountered in Mesa.

Today I am writing about piano #6, which was located on Main Street, east of MacDonald. According to the Street Pianos website (where you can also view videos of people playing this piano),i t was decorated by artist: Kyllan Maney  and students of the New School For The Arts and was donated by Myrna Horton.

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Left side view of piano #6

According to Kyllan Maney’s website, she

works with aspects of nature that reminds her of the feelings of tranquility, discovery, spirituality and awe that exist when looking at plants and objects closely.  The visual foundation of Kyllan’s work is rooted in scientific illustrations, religious icons, human relationships and inspiration from past and current artists. Kyllan enjoys the inventive, creative process of working with mixed media, oil painting and large scale murals.

There’s so much I like about this piano. I think its bright, eye-catching color is grand. I like the individual portraits decorating it. As I said before, I think it is so cool to see pianos out and about, available for anyone to play.

Unfortunately, I don’t know how to play the piano. Music lessons were not something my parents

Right side view of piano #6

Right side view of piano #6

could afford when I was a kid, and by the time I took a piano class in high school, it was too late. I realized I basically have no musical talent, and it was going to take way more effort than I was willing to exert to learn to play the piano (or anything else).

That evening in Mesa, I was sad I couldn’t sit down and coax a song from this instrument, but I was glad to know it was out there waiting for someone more talented than I .

I took all the photos in this post.
To read more about public art in Mesa, go here: http://www.rubbertrampartist.com/2016/10/07/the-big-pink-chair/, here: http://www.rubbertrampartist.com/2016/10/15/booked-for-the-day/, and here: http://www.rubbertrampartist.com/2016/11/14/quackers/.

Detail from piano #6 for all my Bowie homies.

Detail from piano #6

Nov14

Quackers

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Quackers is yet another sculpture in the permanent collection in downtown Mesa, AZ. It is located next to a large fountain near the northwest corner of Main and Center streets. (You can learn more about all of the sculptures in  Downtown Mesa’s Permanent Sculpture Collection by looking at the brochure for the self-guided tour.

img_5855Mike Dwyer of Loveland, CO created this bronze piece. According to Dwyer’s website,

Mike was inspired to sculpt “Quackers” around his two year old son Nathan and his love of feeding the ducks at the local park. Nathan would hold on to crackers or bread and try to get the ducks to come in as close as possible.

This was Mike’s first sculpture of a child. He used real measurements from Nathan, even going in with his calipers and measuring ears nose and extremities while Nathan was napping. He also took many pictures of the active, small boy in many different poses.

According to the Waymarking website,

The sculpture was purchased through the City of Mesa’s Permanent Sculpture Panel and was dedicated img_5856in April 2004.

I think this is a really cute piece of art. How can Mesa go wrong with a little kid feeding ducks? What I really want to know is how the city keeps people out of that fountain in the summer.

I took the photos in this post.