Category: sculpture
Spoonbridge and Cherry Sculpture Thanks to Maura
Granddaughter Maura called from Minneapolis today to share what she was looking at while she was on vacation- Spoonbridge and Cherry
by artists Claes Oldenburg and his wife Coosje van Bruggen.
Earlier this year Maura did a school report on Oldenburg for Art Class and we had looked at some of Oldenburg’s public art sculpture online and discussed locations where they could be viewed.
And here she was today, getting the chance to experience this huge sculpture in person. Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is adjacent to the Walker Art Center
“The spoon itself weighs 5,800 pounds and the cherry, another 1,200 pounds. The cherry’s stem also acts as a fountain which sprays into the bowl of the spoon and off into the pond beneath”
It was very exciting to get Maura’s Face Time call and to see it at the same time as she was looking right at it.
And then she sent two pictures. I took the third one as a screen shot as we were on the call.
Here’s an article about this iconic and “quirky Landmark”
In 2016 I took a fun photo on Mt.Washington in Pittsburgh inspired by Spoonbridge and Cherry
On Top of the World post
Magnolias for Pittsburgh
Two sculptures of Magnolias Trees in bloom at the corner of Seventh Street and Penn Avenue- Public Art in The Cultural District – downtown Pittsburgh. The lead artist –Tony Tasset
My granddaughter and I were on our way to opening night of The Music Man.
Right across the street from the theatre where we were headed… “Two sculptures of magnolia trees called Magnolias for Pittsburgh are surrounded by five real magnolia trees.”
“The intention of Magnolias for Pittsburgh was first and foremost to create a public work with an egalitarian aesthetic that appeals to a wide range of the population,” Mr. Tasset writes in his artist’s statement. “I wanted to simply create a little magic, fairy tale moment in the daily hustle and bustle of downtown Pittsburgh. Magnolias is meant to have a dynamic relationship with the environment,”
The Volunteers Bronze Statue Guest Blog
Thank you Joanne who sent the article and photographs from Halifax
The Volunteers Bronze Statue in Halifax, at the Waterfront, Nova Scotia (click link for article written when the monument was unveiled in 2017)
“The bronze sculpture, called “The Volunteers,” features three life-sized figures from three generations: A young girl pulling a wagon full of salvaged metal, an African-Nova Scotian woman holding a tray of coffee and sandwiches, and an older woman seated with a Mi’kmaq basket and knitting.”
The sculptor is Marlene Hilton Moore
Resilience by artist Paula Crown
Paula Crown sculptor/artist
Her journey from Wall Street to the Art World Article
“A new art installation at Rockefeller Center in New York City stands as a warning about the harmful effects of disposable plastics.”
Binding Contract Statue – Guest Blog
I received this photo from long time friend Shuey this afternoon. He’s in Oklahoma. It’s in front of a bank,he says.
This bronze sculpture by artist Bradford J. Williams It’s in front of the Bank of Western Oklahoma in Woodward.
It symbolizes the handshake as a true meaning of a “Binding Contract” link
“Binding Contact”
One of my favorite statues: Woodward, OK.
You might remember one of Shuey’s guest posts of a Barred Owl. That is is you’ve been following the blog eleven years! It is one of the most viewed posts on the blog’s existence, last time I checked.
Remembering Claes Oldenburg
A favorite with my art students, Swedish Artist Sculptor Claes Oldenburg passed 18 July 2022 at 93 years of age.
You may have seen some of his well known sculptures. They are huge!
Oldenburg also created giant soft sculptures– some of food- hamburger, cheeseburgers, ice cream cone, profiterole. He took everyday objects and created giant sculptures.
The Clothespin in Philadelphia
Batcolumn in Chicago
Spoonbridge and Cherry in Minneapolis
The Shuttlecocks in Kansas weren’t immediately embraced“…..four-large-sculpture birdies placed throughout The Nelson-Atkins-Musueum-of-Arts-Green by husband and wife team Claes-Oldenburg and Coose-van-Bruggen.(d. 2009). Each birdie weighs 5500-pounds standing nearly 18-feet-tall.”
C
St. Joseph Feast Day from 2012 and 2011
Reblog from ten years ago
Carmela Baked All These Breads for St. Joseph Feast Day
Tuesday afternoon I met a friend for dinner. We used to teach in the same school but are in different schools across the city now. It was good to catch up. When we walked into the restaurant,La Tavola Italiana, I could not believe what I saw in front of me! A St. Joseph Feast spread from the day before. Later Carmela came out to speak with us about how we were enjoying our dinners and she was taking photos with her iPad to send to her family. She uses the iPad to keep the restaurant calendar for parties and other aspects of her business.
I asked if she made the St. Joseph Cavazunes filled with the chick peas and she said, “NO, they are Calabrese.” She is Sicilian and she makes Zeppoles.
I said that I’d photographed all the bread and would send her the photos but would she like to pose with all her handiwork and she did! I didn’t notice she put the iPad down onto the cloth in front until I saw it on the computer. She was gracious to allow me to photograph her. NEXT year we have to go to actual feast! It sounded like a terrific party.
And speaking of party? Click to hear Chicago John’s Italian Song Selection
and a Recipe for A St, Joseph Feast Day Strata from Bartolini Kitchens 
St. Joseph Day Pastries
Yesterday, March 19th, was St.Joseph Day. My sister bought two special pastries at Pasticerria Rocco on Bleecker Street. On the left is Sfingi On the right is Zeppole, baked to honor the occasion. “St. Joseph’s Pastries or Zeppole di San Giuseppe are traditional cream filled pastries from Campagna region of Italy.” -Click for recipe from Italian Recipe Book.
St. Joseph the Worker 24 FT Statue Waits in a Church Parking Lot
Today my friend J(of Pittsburgh, not Omaha) and I went to the Tin Front Cafe for lunch. We heard about the St. Joseph the Worker statue having been removed from the nearby church. Judith Tener told us where to find him in a parking lot and so after lunch we wound around one- way streets and asked a few people for directions but eventually we climbed up hills and back and found this beautiful statue waiting for us. He was striking. There were the huge stone barrels pouring molten steel out onto the world. Flames carved in stone. See detail below on image three.
A big crane erected this statue (which was blessed in Italy by Pope VI) on St. Michael the Archangel Church in 1966 in Homestead. Many Slovaks helped build this church.
When the church closed, the diocese took the statue down in 2010.
People missed looking at St. Joseph high above the buildings, overlooking Homestead and the Monongahela River.
A memorial to the hard workers of the mills in this town. He was loaded on a flatbed and taken to St Anne’s now 3 combined parishes to form St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish. Read the names of the people etched in bricks- Vehec, Tarasevich, Godleski, Milchalk, Straka, Pavlik, Sklencar, Sayko to name a few.
The statue was designed by sculptor Frank Vittor (b. 1888 in Italy) who also made the Honus Wagner Statue now at PNC Park. His story on the link if you click on his name tells how he came to work with Stanford White and then a week later White was murdered…but that is not the main idea of today’s post and I am getting off track. It was just incredibly interesting. Vittor taught at Cooper Union in NYC and also at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University)
Here are two views of the giant St Joseph the Worker statue. And a detail shot, too.
There are plans in the works to get him relocated in a place of honor but will keep you posted when this happens.
There is an historical marker honoring sculptor Frank Vittor by the Columbus Statue in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh
From my Grandmother’s Album
“The Eternal Indian, sometimes called the Black Hawk Statue (dedicated in 1911), is a 48-foot sculpture by Lorado Taft located in Lowden State Park, near the city of Oregon, Illinois.”
Masked Dinosaur and Flowering Pear on Freeport Road
At the red light when headed to the post office.
frame