The one thing I love about Charlottesville is driving around and BAM! there’s a little art in your face. It’s bad though because I’m always trying to check out one of these awesome sculptures and not really focusing on the wheel. But from what I’ve quickly gawked at as I zoomed around the Ville, there are some talented sculptors in this area.
The photo above is “King Alfred and his Court” by Jeff Fetty. I love daffodils and seeing giant ones as I go down Druid Avenue always brightens my day a little.
The sculpture exhibits are made possible by a non-profit corporation called Art in Place. Their website describes their goal as to “provide the Charlottesville community with a wide range of artistic styles, themes and media to enhance our concepts of space and place and enliven our sense that art has the power to move us.” Sounds good to me.
Another favorite of mine is “Conversation” by Robert Garcia on the 250 bypass. I don’t know what it is but every morning on the way to work, I catch it out of the corner of my eye and am momentarily mesmerized by the rainbow colors. I love how it changes as you drive by and can see the different colors from different angles.
An exhibit from the past that I wish were still around is the “One Room Cow” by David Currier that used to stand on 5th St. Extended. It was a cow! And a house! Wait, what? I always wanted to pull over and open the little door to see what it looked like inside. I heard they ended up having to lock it because homeless people were sleeping in it.
This is only a sampling of a few of the sculptures. Check out the archives to see some of the others around town right now and from past years. Which one is your favorite? Don’t have a favorite? Next time you’re driving around, keep an eye out and see if you notice any of these fine works of art.
Current Art in Place sculpture locations
Popularity: 31% [?]
Tagged as: art in place, charlottesville, Exhibit, sculpture
What a great idea for a post Pinkie.
I love it! Very nice!
Whale tail is my favorite, right by the Dairy Road overpass on 250 as you head west.
These sculptures are usually in place for a year and then sold if I’m not mistaken (though the City sometimes buys them and keeps them where they are). If I had the scratch and a place to put it, I think about bidding on that one.
I really like that whale tale, too.
Nice post, Pinkie! My current favorite is the bird and snake over on Preston/Rose Hill. I like it even more now that I discovered it’s titled “Blind Date.” I also loved “Barn Wave” which used to be on McIntire, the big wave made out of a lot of discarded beams of wood. Very cool.
i liked the huge wicker chair on McIntire/Harris interesection. But its gone now. I noticed a small eagle looking thing over at the other end of that path, but I haven’t been able to see what it really is.
Also, the totem poles on Ridge are pretty cool, too.
@4: What’s this “Blind Date”? I better go look. Barn Wave was awesome!
Oh, that one. It kinda weirds me out. But I love “Spectres” which is right there too.
Haha, I don’t know why, but it always strikes me when I drive past it.
Which one is “Spectres”? I can’t find it on the site…
For what it’s worth, I’ve always had soft spot for “A Bad Case of the Mondays”. It reminds me of myself racing out the door. Minus the tie. And the brief case. Having lost my mind on a number of different occasions, maybe I’m drawn to the sculpture’s headless quality.
Oops, never mind, found it. Yes, I like that one a lot too. It’s one of the ones I wish I had more time to look at without causing major traffic problems.
the wooden wave was really sweet. is it bad that i wanted to see what it looked like on fire? i have a fire problem.
The guy who did “Conversation” says he wishes we would go stand in it to get the full effect. Can you imagine darting across 250 twice to stand in the middle of that thing?
oh, great post! i love “conversation” and the whale tail too. another favorite is “whirled peace”, especially on windy days. i love the whole concept of this - better than fiberglass cows, IMO.
@12 - i’ve dashed across the bypass before; it’s not as scary as you think. you’ve just got to time it correctly. you give me an idea, though…
Whale tail’s my fave now, too, since wooden wave is gone.
so sad, the two together would’ve looked pretty cool
i liked the big wooden chair.
i sat in it. i have pictures of my friends and i in it, too.
(and there isn’t anything there to replace it:(.)
Haha everyone should take pictures of themselves with their fave Art in Place sculpture and send them in. That would be sweet!
The Wave was always my favorite. It was built using wood from demolished barns. Unfortunately the city didn’t want to buy it and keep the piece as a permanent fixture like they have done before with some of the other art in place pieces. The lady that runs Art in Place is a really interesting person and full of info abut the art scene around town. the Muse should interview her sometime about Art in Place’s work.
Um yeah! Email me at Pinkie@spicybear.com, Rehd.
[…] may have seen some of these interesting sculptures around town…and we talked about it here. Well guess what sculptors, the deadline for submitting your application is July 1st. Large and […]