At the edge of Weeden Park, next to the U.S. Post Office, stands a man with a spyglass in hand, gazing intently across Main Street in the historic village of Lawrenceville.
The “man” is not real – just a collection of recycled parts. He stands on a pair of Electrolux vacuum canisters and automobile shock absorbers for legs, a scrap metal electrical panel box for a torso, blue electrical wire for hair and two colanders – one on top of the other – for a hat.
The man is, in fact, part of a sculpture display created by a group of artists, known as the Artists of the Motor Exhibits Building at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton Township.
The recycled man is one of nearly a dozen whimsical sculptures in Weeden Park, ranging from a mirrored pyramid, to a rocking chair on a base underneath two trees, to an animal of indeterminate nature whose tail is pointed straight up in the air.
Although the sculptures were installed in Weeden Park by their creators last month, a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for “Sculpture in the Park” is planned for Dec. 15 at noon.
The sculpture garden will be on display for one year, said Kelly Edelstein, the executive director of Lawrenceville Main Street. The nonprofit group is in charge of revitalizing the business district.
“This installation brings new energy to our already vibrant downtown. It will prove to be an exciting backdrop for the year of art and community programming that Lawrenceville Main Street has in the works,” Edelstein said.
The goal of the sculpture display is to draw visitors to Main Street, which is the business district in the village of Lawrenceville. The display grew out of a suggestion offered at a board of directors meeting held by Lawrenceville Main Street.
Angelo Stio III, who sits on the board of directors, said he visits the Grounds for Sculpture often and thought it might be possible to have one sculpture installed temporarily in Weeden Park – but then it grew.
Lawrenceville Main Street representatives contacted Margareta Warlick, who chairs the group of artists from the Grounds for Sculpture’s Artists of the Motor Exhibits Building.
Warlick visited Weeden Park, liked it and came up with the display. Some of the resident artists and sculptors of the Artists of the Motor Exhibit Building also visited Weeden Park in preparation for the exhibit.