On this wonderful rainy evening, I realized I hadn't posted for awhile. I have quite a few excursions to share too, so what better opportunity than a cold, stormy night to reflect back to a bright sunny May day spent walking the city in search of art to photo!
On May 9th I spend the majority of the day just walking around various areas of Sacramento looking for interesting stuff. I had a couple destinations in mind when I left the house; I wanted to take some photos of three horse statues in particular. I ended up finding four.
These horses, as far as I know, were not planned to have anything in common. But they obviously do.
This is the first one installed - The Butterfield Horse at 5th and J
This forlorn looking beauty was installed in 1983. The artist, Deborah Butterfield, sculpts horses out of "found" objects. In this case, she used metal from an old Airstream trailer.
Once upon a time, I remember this being a beautiful area. But the drought has taken the pretty green bushes and revealed the detritus of careless humans.
The next horse to be "installed" was the "Safeway" horse located at...where else...Safeway! This majestic steed was crafted and unveiled in 2004 by artist Sean Guerrero. It is made from reclaimed car bumpers. (See the connection??)
The newest horse statue of the three was installed in a parking lot on Marconi Avenue in Carmichael, CA in 2009. As you will undoubtedly observe, it bears a strong resemblance to the Safeway horse. Yep...you guessed it...this one was also created by Sean Guerrero and out of old car bumpers as well.
Word on the street is that this is in homage to Sacramento born and bred 1886 Kentucky Derby winner, Ben Ali. Carmichael was home to the original Rancho Del Paso, a Mexican land-grant ranch that passed through many hands and was eventually turned into a thoroughbred horse ranch.
It's somewhat difficult to get a decent picture of this guy because of it's proximity to buildings and signage that are less than attractive. So be prepared for some special effects.
Our last sculpture differs visually from the last two. But it definitely has something in common with the last one. It's name? Remember Rancho Del Paso. Created by Numan Begovic in 2007, I have to imagine that this is also in homage to Kentucky Derby winner Ben Ali. Other than it's name, artist, and age I couldn't really find out much about this horse.
In trying to research a little bit, I found that the person who commissioned the middle two horses also has commissioned several other animals here in the Sacramento area as well as two horses with cowboys in Woodland. I sense another art walk...errr...drive in my future.
Stay tuned for more Sacramento eclectic art!
xoxo
