One of the rallying cries for Sonoma during last year’s October fires was: “The love in the air is thicker than the smoke.”
Well, Sonoma, you can now make that: The “love” at City Hall is thicker than 20 feet of steel.
At least that will be the case this September when the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art installs a 6-foot-tall “Love” sculpture in the “horseshoe” area at the front of the Plaza. The piece, created by artist Laura Kimpton, is comprised of four letters, spelling “love,” each 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Constructed from steel, the sculpture in total will weigh about 900 pounds.
The sculpture also comes with outdoor-lighting capabilities, allowing it to be illuminated – in ever-changing colors – in conjunction with the trees on the Plaza, which are strewn with white lights throughout the holiday season.
The Sonoma City Council at its Monday, Aug. 6 meeting unanimously approved the temporary Plaza installation, which will be on display from Sept. 14 to Jan. 6. The piece will be shown in conjunction with the SVMA’s upcoming “From Fire, Love Rises” gallery exhibit, commemorating Sonoma and Napa artists who were impacted by the fires.
According to the museum, the “From Fire, Love Rises” exhibit is “intended to highlight the restoration of emotional resolve, the ability to find beauty among the wreckage, and the knowledge that, in this community, it’s love that burns brightest.”
The “Love” sculpture was originally created as part of Kimpton’s “Monumental Word” series that she launched in 2009 at the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada. “Love” is the third word in the series that includes “Dream,” “Mom,” “Ego,” “Believe,” “Be” and “Oink.” According to a city staff report on the “Love” sculpture proposal, the pieces in the series “often evoke varied emotions and interpretations” and that “viewers are encouraged to interact with each word on their own terms.”
Among the words Sonoma resident Suzanne Brangham interacted with when addressing the council in support of the “Love” sculpture was: “Phenomenal.” That’s how she described its potential contribution to the city in regards to public art.
“With the ‘love’ shining on the Plaza once again, people will recognize the need for gifting” during the holiday season, Brangham also pointed out.
Meeting attendee Veronica Naples expressed her support succinctly: “I think this is going to be spectacular.”
While the “Love” sculpture was met with plenty of potential paramours in the room, the larger expression of love in the Council Chambers on Monday was for the museum’s current outdoor art exhibition, “Natural Affinity: California Women Sculptors in the Landscape” – an exhibition featuring human and animal sculptures scattered throughout the 8-acre Plaza through Oct. 21.
During the public comment portion of the council meeting, several residents expressed appreciation for artist Gwynn Murrill’s deer sculptures currently herding near the pond along First Street West.
Sonoma resident Lynne Joiner asked if there was a way the City could make the deer sculptures permanent.
“I love the deer,” said Joiner. “And I’m not a little kid!”
In other news from the meeting, the council also heard presentations and public comment regarding an appeal to the Planning Commission’s previous approval of the so-called Gateway Project, a proposed mixed-use housing development at the site of the shuttered Sonoma Truck & Auto on Broadway. Due to a plethora of information submitted to city officials late last week from the appellants, the council postponed its discussion of the appeal. On Aug. 20, the council will set a new date to continue the hearing of the Gateway appeal.
Email Jason at Jason.walsh@sonomanews.com.
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