This is a color image but the gloomy cloud cover has drained all the color out of it. This sculpture is actually quite vivid. And November is supposed to be like this. . . it’s wintery. . . I like it. Asher Schofield, owner of the entertaining gift shop Frog and Toad, seems to be one of the guiding forces behind the project. Head over to Hope Street near Rochambeau to view four sculptures newly installed by artist Donald Gerola. According to the Providence Journal Gerola packed up six years ago,
. . . sold his historic property in Pennsylvania to follow his “insane obsession” with sculpturing in Providence, a city he adores.
We hear so often about the brain-drain and all the young adults leaving for opportunities elsewhere, it’s nice to be reminded that occasionally people actually move here.
Typical lukewarm response is why you see so little. Has no idea what he’s looking at! Monumental, nonrepresentational, and thus nondenominational sculptures of solid steel that look light but weigh tons enlivens a city street on a bus line: What’s there not to love? Make it a destination, since they’re so worth experiencing.
Congrats to all who made this incredible and inspirational installation possible. Pols would take credit; it was a strictly the artist himself and grassroots activists. And to those who think tax money was wasted: No public funds were used and practically the only area of innovation these days in America comes from artists, despite all codes and statutes aligned against them.
While I’m not really a fan of these particular pieces, I am thrilled to see more public art, especially sculpture that is not in the form of Mr. Potatohead, in Providence. Let’s hope the installation is inspirational to others and we see more art in our “city of the arts”.