ANGOLA — The sixth edition of Sculptures Angola presented by the Mayor’s Arts Council has been installed on the Public Square in downtown Angola.
The display, featuring four new sculptures in the corner of each quadrant of the Public Square, will be up until June 2025.
This year’s display features some veterans of the downtown Angola display and one newcomer.
Returning this year with another one of his bold sculptures is Greg Mendez with “Resplendent Ardor,” which is on the northwest quadrant of the Square, in front of The Brokaw Movie House
This steel “sculpture was inspired by a painting of a matador that was in my Grandparents house. I had the thought of a ballet dancer dancing with a bull instead of fighting it,” Mendez said. “The dress of the sculpture takes a life of its own similar to the matador’s cape. The title ‘Resplendent Ardor’ describes the way the dancer would interact with the bull, ‘attractive and impressive through being richly colorful, and with great emotion’.”
New to Angola this year is Lynn Lehrman, who presented an owl to the display that is situated on the northeast quadrant of the Public Square, between Monument Pizza and Bent Fork.
The steel and repurposed wood piece is by Lehrman, a retired carpenter who has been building various sculptures for the last six years. Most often they are made from old farm equipment parts that came from his father’s and father-in-law’s barns, woods and various other sources. He has been doing various smaller art projects out of metal for almost 36 years.
The owl is made from an old farm disc, barn siding, signpost and car parts. Make sure you look into the eyes.
“Phases of the Moon,” by Maureen B. Gray, another veteran artist for Angola, graces the southeast quadrant of the Public Square, near the Masonic Lodge and the Steuben County Courthouse.
“Is there anything more beautiful than the phases of the moon? Simple, elegant, ever-changing and wonderful to look upon. This sculpture is simple and quiet like a meditation of the moon,” Gray wrote in a description of her piece. “My work is diminutive for outdoor sculpture in public places. It is intimate and needs to be approached to understand the meaning, I want my sculpture to start a conversation, place a seed of thought, capture the image of balance and equality. Hopefully my work is pleasing to experience and yet a little provoking.”
The whimsical, if it can be said, Sunday Mahaja brings his second piece to Angola. He currently has a sculpture on West Maumee Street, from last September’s installation.
“Blue Sisters” is a metal sculpture of roses and firefly. This work can be found near Imagine Alley in the southwest corner of the Public Square.
Typically each work is available for purchase.
After stopping to look at the new sculptures, people may still visit last September’s installation that remains on the four corners of the intersection of Elizabeth and West Maumee streets. These works will be on display until September.
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