Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: bronson park

This one has notes that diagram, as best I can, the black & white. In case anyone's curious, I suppose.

Thought I'd give today's black & white daily some context. The local churches commissioned a work from Kalamazoo sculptor Kirk Newman for the reflecting pool in Kalamazoo's downtown common, called Bronson Park. The work consists of sculptures of nine children in naturalistic poses and a perhaps crumbling (or emergent) wall fragment (or something). The installation was dedicated on July 4, 1976, as part of the local bicentennial celebration (I sang in a choir at the event). The work's name is "When justice and mercy prevail, children may safely play." This installation is a challenge to photograph well, as isolating the individual sculptures loses the context, while photographing the whole work loses the detail. Moreover, the sculpture looks very different as you change angles. So I decided, for today's black & white, that I'd find a single child-sculpture that spoke to me, and post a photo of that. Since I moved from Kalamazoo in 1977, my opportunities to view Newman's work have been relatively limited. Nonetheless, I've learned that every viewing is interesting, and that different parts of the work catch my attention at each viewing. It's a delightful work, and I'm pleased I was there when it was made public. If you're interested, there's a nice essay about this work on another website.

One more view.

Disabled Veterans Memorial, Kalamazoo Court House--visible from, but not in, Bronson Park. Installation by Kalamazoo sculptor Kirk Newman.

Disabled Veterans Memorial, Kalamazoo Court House--visible from, but not in, Bronson Park. Installation by Kalamazoo sculptor Kirk Newman.

Disabled Veterans Memorial, Kalamazoo Court House--visible from, but not in, Bronson Park. Installation by Kalamazoo sculptor Kirk Newman.

Disabled Veterans Memorial, Kalamazoo Court House--visible from, but not in, Bronson Park. Installation by Kalamazoo sculptor Kirk Newman.

Disabled Veterans Memorial, Kalamazoo Court House--visible from, but not in, Bronson Park. Installation by Kalamazoo sculptor Kirk Newman.

Disabled Veterans Memorial, Kalamazoo Court House--visible from, but not in, Bronson Park. Installation by Kalamazoo sculptor Kirk Newman.

I no longer recall why I visited Kalamazoo a year ago, but the trip included a stop at Bronson Park. My main objective was to find a viable photo of the Kirk Newman sculpture in the reflecting pool, one of which became the 366 Snaps photo, but I also caught a few shots of the park's other sculptures. I also photographed the surrounding buildings, and passing pedestrians. Bronson's always been one of my favorite places; moving away didn't change that. This one's a casting of Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson's The Hiker. There are castings of this statue all over the country, but this is the example I've always known. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 74 Title of " roll :" Bronson Park Other photos taken on 11/30/2012: none.

Alfonso Ianneli's Fountain of the Pioneers dominates Bronson Park. I've always thought it was gorgeous, though that opinion seems a minority view. I've also known that the fountain's "message" was politically suspect since I was a kid in the 1950s, something more recent commentators seem not to realize. More information here . Some, but hardly all, of the controversy is a deliberate misreading of the sculptor's intentions. I know enough about the Potawatomi Removal to be certain there's no way to portray it without offending someone. It's very clear that many white settlers in southern Michigan recognized the event as a tragedy even as it was occurring. I do support the notion of adding an explanatory plaque to the display. When everything's functioning, this is a stunning work, with many water flows and colored lights. But that is, at best, a summer function, and for most of the year the fountain's just a sculpture. In real life, the fountain's often been offline even in summer, as the upkeep has always been expensive. I'm guessing that when the sculpture's gone, that will be the official reason for its removal. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . 366 Snaps project discussion and stats for November 30 .

Kirk Newman's sculpture in Bronson Park's reflecting pool, with the long title given above, was dedicated on July 4, 1976. I sang in a choir at that event. (That band shell's relatively new, but the location's where we were standing for the Bicentennial celebration.) Newman's sprawling work of art is impossible to photograph as a whole, partly because it's spread out and partly because the potential backgrounds are very busy. This angle, with the added real-life children, catches most of Newman's children and shows the general shape of the piece. But you need to walk around the pool, looking at faces and poses, to fully appreciate Newman's accomplishment. Besides the 366 Snaps photo, I published three more pix from this session on Flickr. Here , here , and here . ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . 366 Snaps project discussion and stats for November 30 .