Rural, Redding, Calif. became a cultural destination in 2004 when it opened artist/architect Santiago Calatrava's soaring Sundial Bridge. Now, it continues its emphasis on adding art with the opening (May 13) of a 2.5 Sculpture Park at City Hall that will include 20 major sculptures and objets d'art including three pieces by Mosaiculture International of Montreal titled, "Freedom and Friendship in Flight."
Tiny Redding joins Montreal and Shanghai as among only three world Cities to display "mosaiculture" sculptures. These living sculptures, similar to but unlike topiaries, integrate living plants in sculptures, providing texture and color. The largest collection at Reddings new Sculpture Park includes ten, massive, granite pieces by local sculptor Yongjin Han. A retired physician, Dr. Han expresses his deep affection for his adopted country (the U.S.A.) and his native land (Korea) though abstract expressions using American and Korean granite. The biggest of them is Spirit of America, made of six gigantic stone blocks stacked 15 feet tall and weighing over 150,000 pounds.
Other sculptures in Redding's new Sculpture Park are of the "Stela" genre, contemporary "standing story stones," whose origins date back thousands of years. Whimsy and form complete the park with larger-than-life dragonfly and caterpillar by Norman Libby and John Martin Steeby, and lifesized characterizations of a bull and puma by California artist Brian Tedrick. Though, the sculpture that may most identify with Redding will be a two-story tall fly fisherman, netting a trout. This $100,000 sculpture, created by Montana artist Ercel Johnson, was acquired at no cost to Redding, by selling smaller $2,500 versions of it to local residents.
"The extent of the collection and its value far exceeds what public art many communities of similar size (80,000 residents) display," says Bob Warren, Redding's tourism officer, "Most cities our size are challenged by the simple task of filling potholes. Whereas, Redding applied inventive approaches to underwrite the park and turn its city hall grounds into a place to visit and linger." Paved walkways wind through the park and link to the Sacramento River National Recreation Trail. Places to sit and picnic are shaded by 135 trees planted amidst fountains and gardens within the Sculpture Park. Completing Redding's commitment to display art, a gallery throughout the three-story City Hall will display changing exhibits of hundreds of works of local artists, every three months.
