There’s a chair in the sky on the corner of First and A Street in downtown Lake Oswego. If you cross the street, you’ll find a long-eared, long-legged rabbit with a plaque that reads, “This is not a Rabbit.”
Throughout the city, you’ll find a wide range of art installations dressing up street corners, parks, garden paths and even alleyways, as part of the Lake Oswego Art Counsel’s mission to integrate art into daily life. There are over 60 installations in all, loaned to the city by artists who keep them on display for two years.
If you fall in love with one, you can purchase it and take it home for $500 to $55,000, depending on the piece. But that’s not the only way to establish a personal relationship with the art:
Each year, Lake Oswego residents vote for their favorite piece as part of the “People’s Choice” Sculpture Program. The winner is purchased by the city, and becomes part of its permanent collection. This enables adoring fans to come and wrap their arms around a sculpture anytime, day or night, for many years to come.
This year, the city chose Brian Mock’s “Guardian of the Lake,” a metal sculpture of a dog, fabricated out of objects such as a meat tenderizer, a garlic press, a cookie cutter, a bike pedal and so much more.
Part of the fun is walking around it, pointing out household items and recycled hardware that have been cleverly integrated into the sculpture’s head, torso, legs and tail. Whenever I walk by it, standing sentinel on First Street, by the lake, it’s usually surrounded by children making comments such as, “I think this dog ate a garden nozzle.”
One of my new favorites is the bright yellow woman known as, Contrapposto, by Francisco Salgado. She stands on Evergreen Street, striking a sexy pose, while keeping a watchful eye all the way up Second Street, as I walk to my car after a late dinner at Manzana.
Then there’s James Lapp’s large, graceful wireframe “Egg” on Third and A Avenue, across from the Full Circle Vet Clinic. Thanks to the city’s policy of integrating art into daily life, I can bring my cat to the vet for a vaccine, while beholding beautiful artwork right outside. Sadly, my cat doesn’t appreciate the art nearly as much as I do. She’s too busy beholding the vet’s office.
After our appointment, when I run into Rite Aid to grab bandages for my newly clawed hand, I can experience art once again — this time, a multi-colored star that spins near the corner of 2nd Street and B Avenue, and a string of sculpted black birds on a wire, also across from the drugstore.
So it is true, Lake Oswego has figured out how to bring art into daily living… something you can find all over Portland, actually. And it’s just one more reason why Portland is an amazing place to call home.