New sculpture trail takes shape

When installing Charles Brouwer’s Hurrying Home sculpture at Riverwalk Jan. 9, a question arose — which direction should the sculpture face?

Which way was home? Toward the Savannah River or away from it?

In the end, the wooden piece was set into place looking as though it was coming from Riverwalk’s lower level to step onto the brick walkway above.   

The sculpture is one of 10 new pieces that are being installed this week at various spots downtown including Riverwalk, the Fifth Street Bridge and Augusta Common.

Set on a base resembling a home plate in baseball, the sculpture has a human-like appendages, but instead of a human head and torso, it has what looks like a house.

“I did a gallery show in the 1990s called Homebodies, and every sculpture had a house shape,” said Brouwer, a Virginia artist. “They were doing all kinds of things.”

One was called Home in the Woods and it was sitting on a stump; Being Home was a structure that resembles someone standing.

Hurrying Home has a sense of motion like someone running, and it’s been displayed in other places.

This is the second Augusta Sculpture Trail. The first was set up in January 2021 and was mainly on Broad Street. The second iteration has more of a presence on the Savannah River toward Riverwalk because of anticipated construction on Broad Street over the next couple of years, said Pax Bobrow, project manager for the Greater Augusta Arts Council.

“We’re very pleased to be concentrated in the Augusta Common and both levels of Riverwalk,” she said. ”It’s a lovely walking path. People can park downtown near the Common and follow a lovely loop.”

Other sculptures will be installed through Jan. 13. The Otocast app will be updated to reflect the new additions, Bobrow said, and some type of ceremony to mark the new trail will occur when the weather gets a little warmer.

Other sculptures located at Riverwalk, the Augusta Common and the Fifth Street Bridge

In addition to Hurrying Home, sculptures include Duet’s Dance Herons in Conversation by Lee Bell  at Augusta Common and Broad Street.

Her “subject matter has remained rooted in themes of nature, feminine beauty and animals,” according to a news release. “Her sculptures are created with the intent of bringing a figure to life that is both whimsical and elegant simultaneously.”

Lee uses up-cycled / recycled materials in her work.

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Endeavour by Chris Plaisted, which will be at Augusta Common and Broad Street, “is a new direction for Chris Plaisted since the abstract steel sculpture is based on an actual object. The HMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lt. James Cook commanded to Australia and New Zealand on his first voyage from 1769 to 1771,” the release said.

What’s in the Queue by Gregory Johnson at Augusta Common and Reynolds Street “focuses on simple, elegant geometric shapes. He likes to sculpt lyrical shapes that suggest things that we see and are familiar with but cannot touch or quantify, like the warmth of the sun, or the energy of a crashing wave,” it said.

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Without Limits by Gus and Lina Ocamposilva at Eighth Street at Riverwalk honors “the perseverance of the human spirit and the relationship between two people who are able to achieve equilibrium, magic and show the perfection of the human being through movement,” the release said.

Without Limits will be placed near another Ocamposilva work called Unstoppable, which was part of the first sculpture trail and was purchased. The two works complement one another according to Bobrow.

Rise by James E. Weitzel is on Riverwalk’s lower level. His “current series of sculptures are wings in various sizes all made of sculpted copper, with steel, wood and sometimes leather additions. They evoke thoughts of Angels along with bird references,” the news release said.

Oraiste agus Liath by Aisling McDonald will be on Riverwalk’s lower level.

This sculpture is the artist’s attempt to reconnect with her Irish heritage.

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Book Bench – A Novel Idea by Craig Gray will be placed at Sixth Street and Riverwalk, and Bobrow said it’s the perfect spot for sitting and reading a book. Gray is another artist whose work has become part of Augusta’s permanent collection. His Popsicles sculpture was purchased.

Soccer Dude was created as a representation of artist Gonz Jove’s love of soccer and it will be on the Fifth Street Bridge as will be Ruthless by Flaminio Antonio.

Composed of hundreds of second-hand pieces of iron and steel, Ruthless “holds the power to encourage the creativity of the observer and helps them momentarily to forget their worries while also changing the way that we see the things that we throw away,” the release said.