I got a commission for a piece of public art of the stone variety from the Sisters of St. Joseph. I began work on it last Fall, delivering stone to the site, but bad weather halted the project at that point and I resumed in the Spring.
I had a substantial amount of money available and in the end there was at least 60 tons of stone involved. The original plan was altered several times for a variety of reasons and this is what I ended up with.
Two walls running parallel to a walkway that splits the property. The first three pictures show the smaller wall which undulates from the corner of the lot, around a tree and then connects to a big pier of masonry that was on the property
The second wall is about the same length but much thicker and higher. It goes around a stand of birches and the western part is pretty much at the same level and serves as a bench that faces a concrete pad that will serve as an area where performances can occur. The eastern part is twice the height and is thicker and curls off at the north entrance to the lot.
It was a lot of fun and I had some help from some soccer players on a couple of days, but mostly it was a solo job requiring some sweat and smashed fingers. I liked working with this type of stone, Laurel Mountain blend it was called. In each palette there was quite a bit of junk stone, but I was able to incorporate it without too much trouble.
The neighborhood people who passed and took the time to talk a bit were all very positive and a couple of them stopped by on more than one occasion so it was clear that people appreciated what the sisters were doing.
One more load to deliver and then some tidying up and that will be that. It is on 19th Street, behind the Erie Cemetery, just over from Chestnut.
Posts
