Walking Through History

by Nancy Glime

The California Native Species Map located in Richmond, CA, features many of the native species of Northern California rendered in relief, as well as all the major geographical fault lines and highways. PHOTO: Michael Lamb

At the forefront of this form of public art is Landscape Sculptor Gregg LeFevre. Starting with maps, aerial photos, and the history of the site, he and his clients decide upon which elements of the landscape and its history they want to include. In his sculptures for urban sites, he often represents the streets, architecture, and historical landmarks as elevations carved in relief. His portraits of rural sites accent the more natural features of the area: topography, geology, and major natural interpretive elements, such as local indigenous species. After hand carving and assembling all of these different elements, the final relief is cast in bronze and set at ground level in the pavement of the park, plaza, or lobby for which it was designed. The popularity of these sculptures can be seen in the towns and cities where they are located. Pedestrians of all ages can be found walking on and around the maps, seeing their community from a unique vantage point as they discover the hundreds of hand-carved details that bring out the history, geography, and local color of their everyday life.

An enlarged section of the Native Species Map, detailing the history and landmarks of Richmond.

The popularity of this art has grown at a steady rate. One of the first bronze maps was placed in Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, involving collaboration with landscape architects at Sasaki Associates and the director for urban design for the city, Bob Ballou. Upon seeing the reaction of the public to the project, the landscape architects for a ?EUR??,,????'??Riverwalk?EUR??,,????'?? development in Naperville, Illinois wanted a similar treatment of Naperville for the new library plaza along the ?EUR??,,????'??Riverwalk.?EUR??,,????'?? Soon after, David Koop, a landscape architect for the City of Waukesha, Wisconsin commissioned one for that city.

The ?EUR??,,????'??Paul Revere?EUR??,,????'?? brick is 1 of 102 ?EUR??,,????'??Boston Bricks?EUR??,,????'?? that adorn Winthrop Lane in Boston. Each brick illustrates a different aspect of the history and present day character of Boston.

An example of a similar form of public art can be found in the James Center, a multi-towered of fice and hotel development in Richmond, Virginia. In collaboration with the architects at Odell Associates, and with Ron Fleming, founder of the Townscape Institute, three different bronze sculptures stand in the tower, each related to the lines of the James River as it flows through downtown Richmond. The first is an 18' tall bronze totem, its contours taken from the USGS map of the river; the second, a series of bronze wall panels, was drawn from the same source. The third, involving the input of the atrium?EUR??,,????'???s landscape architects M. Paul Friedberg and Partners, is a large-scale abstracted map of the historic James River Canal system. The map?EUR??,,????'???s bronze linework was incised into the travertine marble floor of the atrium, along with castings of the building facades surrounding Richmond?EUR??,,????'???s historic Capitol Square.

The Waukesha History and Culture Map is bronze and features many historic houses, architectural landmarks, and historic events carved in relief. It is located in barstow plaza of Waukasha, WI. the Fox River is in the background.

In Northern California, with the help of Michael Lamb, a landscape architect for the East Bay Regional Parks Department, an embedded bronze map was created for the terminus of a salt-marsh nature trail. The map illustrates most of the native species of the area. The bronze work features carved reliefs of many of the marine and land species, plus a number of geological features from the natural terrain, including the San Andreas Fault and various earthquake epicenters. The coastline of California continues as a bronze ribbon beyond the borders of the map, extending to the edge of the plaza. The Pacific side of this bronze coastline is a polished terrazzo, while the land side has been left rough. The plaza is sited on a raised platform. Visitors can stand on and view the map and then look out across San Francisco Bay.

Artist Gregg Lefevre (upper left) with five young community artists who helped design the bronze manhole covers for cedar souare park (an Olmsted designed park). PHOTO: James Owens

In the Roxbury section of Boston, a group of five minority artists from the area teamed up with LeFevre and metalworker Jim Owens to design and execute a series of decorative bronze manhole covers which dealt with different aspects of the history of Roxbury.

All of the described projects are of Gregg LeFevre?EUR??,,????'???s design, along with the help of the various landscape architects mentioned. ?EUR??,,????'??It is important to me, first and foremost, to capture the spirit of a community. With the aide of research and people from the community, I want an individual to look at the work and say, ?EUR??,,????'??This is where I live.?EUR??,,????'????EUR??,,????'??

Nancy Glime studied art at Bennington College. She received Masters Degrees from Harvard University and Smith College.