Winner of Best Public Art 2011

This is a special piece to me.  The artist is Owen Smith, he is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers. Smith’s WPA-style mosaic murals and bas relief sculptures at the new Laguna Honda pay homage to Glen Wessels’ W.P.A. mural series “Professions” located in the hospital’s 1926 building. Painted in oil on canvas, Wessels’ five murals portray the classical elements (fire, air, earth and water) through an associated profession. For the hospital’s lobby, Smith created three mosaic murals depicting the building of the Golden Gate Bridge, which to him represents human audacity, bravery, skill and artistic and engineering achievement. The location of the bridge, which is forged in steel (fire), is a meeting of water, earth and sky (air).

This is one of a series of 3’ x 5’ cast-stone relief sculptures representing a classical element and an associated profession.

Owen is an amazing artist, his talent is just phenomenal.  However, what many artists can’t do and what my company does well, is take an artists sculpture and turn it into a final product.  We specialize in cast stone and cast plaster, and were truly honored when Owen came to us to produce the final product.

To make it all that more special, Owens work at Laguna Honda was voted one of three best public artworks in the United States at the 2011 Americans for the Arts convention.