My town of Mason City has a lot to offer and one of the best things, in my humble opinion, has been the Sculpture Walk that they have installed this year. I blogged about it here and here and here! It took me 3 posts to show them all and many of you commented on the beauty of what the artists have to offer in the way of unique and interesting sculptures.
My favorite by far was the one in front of the library entitled Circle of Friends created by artist Karen Crain.
If you read those posts you know that the community is “voting” on these sculptures and the one with the most votes will be purchased by the city to be kept in Mason City. I was disappointed that this sculpture was not included in the voting but as artist Karen Crain confirmed in her comment on that final post it was because it exceeded the cost that the city had allotted for the purchase of the People’s Choice.
I was not the only one who thought that this was THE perfect sculpture for placement in front of our fabulous Mason City Public Library. Kay Sloan, a longtime board member of the library, purchased and donated the sculpture to the city with the only stipulation being that it remain where it is . I was thrilled and while I did not attend the unveiling and reception that was held for this generous woman I did at least send her a thank you note for her contribution to the city. The local newspaper, The Globe Gazette, wrote about the event here.
Thank you, Kay Sloan, for your very generous contribution of the perfect sculpture to grace our library grounds. Thank you to artist Karen Crain for the beautiful piece that was created. We are all blessed by it. When my husband looked at it he said “that was you, wasn’t it?” Pretty much. A lifelong reader and lover of all things with the written word—this sculpture captures what my ideal day is—curled up with a good book.
What part do books play in your life? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear.
30 Comments
Leave a commentThat is a wonderful sculpture for any town!
Isn’t it?? I love it!
Love that the sculpture was purchased and then donated by a board member. That’s above and beyond the actual duty of any member, but so in the spirit of what’s asked for. Love it.
Reading is one of my favorite activities, second only to writing. I hate how much money I have to spend on Kindle books living outside the US. Generally, I would try to use the library more, but that’s not an option here.
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
I was so thrilled when I found out it would stay. It was quite a hefty donation and a lot of people are really going to be able to enjoy it forever!
I bet you do have to spend a lot on books….I did not think about that at all! When we were in Australia I had a library card—-but I image that is not an option there. 🙁 Take care.
The sculpture so captures the feeling that those of us who love the written word possess. I cannot remember a time when I did not love books and reading. What a blessing Kay’s gift will be to the residents of Mason City.
It really is such a wonderful gift and there are so many people who love all that books have to offer that it will be appreciated by many over the years.
It is a beautiful sculpture and in a perfect spot. I love to read, but I’ll admit the computer and social media started to replace reading books. This past year, I’ve actively gone back to books (well, my Kindle or I pad 😀 ) and carved time out the day just to sit and read. It feels good to step away from the screen and into words. Side note, Cole didn’t read a word until 4th grade and since he was at a Waldorf school they didn’t push him feeling it was more a “ready issue” than a leaning disability. He did love to be read too which was not a problem for his dad or me. When he turned 9 he read, devouring the written word, but he did say to me, “Mom the world is much louder when you can read, there are words everywhere.” Reading for the young child can be overwhelming. I offer this as a way of saying that reading is magical but doesn’t have to happen in preschool, or kindergarten. Admittedly, when there is a learning issue, early intervention is crucial but often it’s a maturity issue and unless it is child driven there is no advantage to being an “early reader.” Key, of-course, is adults willing to read to their children and taking time to read themselves.
Tell your DH that the companion sculpture would make a lovely gift. 😀
a Companion Sculpture. ^
OH—–“a”. Gotcha. Now it makes sense. Considering that one was $36,000 I suspect it would have to be a miniature companion piece. 🙂 Like a Monopoly piece!
I like what you wrote—and I think you are probably correct. I read non stop to the boys and neither of them got the love of reading like their dad and I had when they were younger. The oldest is a reader now—he is always reading and that makes me smile. Now that he is in grad school it will be a different kind of reading…..The youngest reads anything social media related so I guess he reads—just not novels like I do. It’s all good. Being exposed to a love of reading is a good thing and you will get a lot farther in this world if you have that skill, in my humble opinion.
Oh, I agree completely, exposing your kid to reading and reading too them, is such a gift to give a kid (not to mention in my humble opinion good parenting 😀 )
I think, that was my favorite sculpture out of all of them and I’m so glad it gets to stay. It’s simply wonderful!!!
It is such a wonderful gift, isn’t it???? I am very excited!
Books were my salvation from the abuse going on in my home. If I was dreadfully unhappy (as I was most of my young life), I could escape to the land of a good book & not have to stay in my unhappy place every minute of every day. There is still nothing I enjoy as much as spending time reading.
Books are a wonderful escape from reality— especially when your reality is horrible. So happy they were a source of comfort for you. Hugs.
I love that. it’s perfection. what a talented artist she is, and proof that this world is still full of good people, doing good things, every day. 🙂
:-). Exactly!
What a blessing! I know you’re happy to have it stay at your local library.
What a wonderful conclusion to this story. I do love a happy ending! I think the sculpture represents so many of us readers; past present and future.
I agree, Darlene! It makes me so happy that it will always be there!
So happy to hear the outcome of this story. Some people are just nice and support their towns. That’s important. As for books, I hate them. Totally kidding. Can’t go a day without books. Even if I don’t have the time to read, I at least look and pick up a book each and every day.
I just had to share the good news with everyone. It is such a wonderful sculpture for anyone—especially book lovers!
When I browsed through the books listed on the statue, I had read several of them and sadly some of them I said, “What?”
:-). It is a beautiful piece. I had read a few but definitely not all of them.
I recognized many of the books on the statue and some of them I said, “What?” My memory does not serve me well or I simply was not interested in that particular series of books. This statue is absolutely gorgeous!
I love this sculpture, too. Loved reading the titles of so many books from my childhood on the ring. It’s just perfect.
I agree— it is such a perfect sculpture in every way! I am so excited it gets to stay!
You are very fortunate to be where this beautiful sculpture is.
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I agree!
[…] You can imagine that I was thrilled when several were purchased to remain in our city. Probably the biggest joy was seeing one of the more expensive pieces, Circle of Friends by artist Karen Crain, stay in place in front of our Mason City Public Library due to a wonderful donation by a local resident, Kay Sloan. You can read about that by clicking here. […]