Today my husband and I took Reyna downtown Pleasanton. We went to a very nice lunch, and Reyna was perfect. After lunch, we walked Main St. to see the life like bronze sculptures that were created by artist Steward Johnson. These sculptures were so amazing and so incredibly life like. Right down to finger prints. There are eleven statues total. We stopped at several of them and took photos of Reyna by the sculptures. She was such a good girl, putting up with all of the photos I was taking. It was a good way to practice “sit-stay”, and I am happy to report Reyna never broke her stay. She is just the kind of pup who really wants to please, so she is fun to train and work with. She did very well with the loud noises, skateboards, loud motorcycles, lots of dogs and plenty of people. She was allowed to greet two people. One was a little baby girl who was about eight months old. She did fine, but she licked her hand a few times. Ugh! She greeted the second person very nicely so I would say she redeemed herself!
Below are some of the photos I took today. I hope you enjoy them.
This sculpture is titled “Yuck, go fetch”. Since it was a man kneeling down next to a black Labrador, we just had to get Reyna’s picture next to it. At a glance, it looks like Reyna is part of the sculpture.
This sculpture is titled “Coming Home”, This is by far the most emotional piece of art. It is of a father coming home from war as he embraces his daughter on his home coming. Reyna doesn’t quite blend in with this one, but she is sure cute sitting there being a good girl in her sit stay.
This sculpture is titled “Shaping Up”. It is a sculpture of a woman jogging. She is in a jogging suit, running shoes and she has head phones on. I put Reyna’s leash into her hand so it looks like she is running with Reyna. The only problem is that Reyna is in a sit, so it doesn’t look quite right. Oh well.
This sculpture is titled “God bless America”. The sculpture is a of man and woman who look like Ma and Pa Kettle. They are holding a pitch fork in front of them and they have a suit case next to them. This was the most life like sculpture. I took some close up photos so you could enjoy the detail.
This sculpture is titled “Sidewalk Judge”. It is a man sitting on a bench dressed in cowboy attire complete with cowboy boots, a cowboy hat and a walking cane.
This sculpture is titled “Midstream”. It is of an older gentleman fly fishing off of a bridge. The detail in this sculpture is amazing. He is wearing waders, a flannel shirt, a fishing hat with lures on them and a basket full of rainbow trout. The detail on the fish is stunning. This is definitely on of my favorites.
This sculpture is titled “On top of the news”. It is of an older gentleman sitting on a bench dressed in a suit and tie. He is reading the news paper and he has a little black and white dog sitting in his lap licking his chin. My husband sat next to him and put Reyna on his lap for the picture. Reyna thought that was really special as you can see the big smile on her face. It appears that Reyna enjoys the arts!
If you live anywhere near Pleasanton, I would recommend going there and checking this out. I believe these sculptures are on exhibit until June. This is also a great place to socialize pups in training. Lots of other dogs an plenty of distractions, loud motorcycles, etc. plus some beautifully and unique art. I have posted below some addition information about the exhibit.
Eleven life-sized sculptures by internationally recognized bronze sculptor Seward Johnson come to Downtown Pleasanton on April 1, 2010.
Johnson's statues have been on exhibit worldwide for the past three decades. The 80-year-old Princeton, N.J., resident has created more than 350 of the life-size bronzes, said Amy Blank, associate curator of the Sculpture Foundation.
An heir to the Johnson & Johnson empire, the artist takes a year to complete a sculpture from conception to completion and produces four to seven annually.
Other cities, including Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Paris and Osaka, Japan, have displayed Johnson's work. A collection is touring Europe and is currently in Italy.
The foundation rents out 10 to 50 sculptures to large cities or one to two pieces to smaller organizations such as schools, libraries and museums, Blank said. The pieces are also for sale. Single-figure sculptures start at $86,000 and multifigure pieces start at $120,000.
These temporary sculptures depicting everyday activities will be installed at various locations to generate interest and increased appreciation for art events of this type. Timed in conjunction with the grand opening later this year of the Firehouse Arts Center, this is the first expansive public art commission selected the Seward Johnson sculpture project as a starting point based upon its broad appeal and relative ease with which the event could be coordinated.
Look for Seward Johnson sculptures at the following selected locations:
Gay 90’s Pizza & Pasta Co., 288 Main Street
Fleet Feet Sports, 310 Main Street
Murphy’s Paw, 410 Main Street
Meadowlark Dairy, 57 W. Neal Street
Comerica Bank, 600 Main Street
Museum on Main, 603 Main Street
The Wine Steward, 641 Main Street
Sincerely Yours Cards & Gifts, 711 Main Street
Little Valley Winery, 739 Main Street
The Rose Hotel, 807 Main Street
Main Street Green, 890 Main Street
Those statues are very interesting! I love the last photo with the Boston terrier licking the man's face, and your husband with Reyna on his lap!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I like that one, too! Reyna thought that was really cool that she was sitting on my husband's lap. You can tell by the look on her face. She did not think it was so cool when we made her get down right after I snapped the photo. Sorry Reyna!
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