Monkey See, Monkey Sculpture

There are people in Central Park, near the Community Center and they were not there before! I don’t mean people, as in “real life” people, although there are plenty of those too, no, I mean there is a huge art sculpture consisting of four people, holding hands, watching over the peaceful fountain by the outdoor amphitheater in Central Park.

I don’t remember ever seeing it before and believe me I’ve spent hours and hours exploring this scenic park with all three of my children and I would have noticed this adorable artwork.

When I returned home, I did an internet search on the people sculpture and found some facts on this whimsical sculpture. Named, People, it was installed in 2010, according to a San Ramon Express, February, 2010 article. According to Kathi Heiman, San Ramon’s Program Manager, there are 37 outdoor sculptures to be found throughout San Ramon, and the city installs at least one project per year, funded through the city’s beautification fund.

I love art and wanted to go and find out more, but the internet was not very informative about where these structures could be found. I did find a few references to other sculptures, but not a map of the sculptures (the ones on the public land) and only a few sculptures were listed with information on the artists.

I wanted more so I decided to treasure hunt and take photos of as many as I could find. I wanted company, but my children – being too old for mom’s adventures – all of a sudden were busy, so I had to find another friend. Who else to ask but my old friend, “Sock?” Being the good sock monkey friend that he is, he said yes. I decided it could be like Flat Stanley, only Sock, the old sock monkey, (yes, he really was made from socks by my great-grandmother a very, very long time ago).

Yes, I know he isn’t a real friend. My 15-year-old son’s friend heard me planning with Monkey before we headed out for our adventure, and he asked me, in a very concerned tone, if I knew that the stuffed animal was not really talking, right? He probably wanted to make sure I did not need medical assistance or maybe had gone around the mental bend. Oh yes, Monkey would be the perfect accomplice to find these hidden sculptures, and we’d have fun too. Come on, Monkey!

We made sure to pack the camera, our notebook, and snacks, because Monkey can only go so long before he’s whining for a banana. The two of us treasure hunted across the city and took pictures of several of the structures. We loved the girl riding an airplane by the Lucky’s on Crow Canyon, but Monkey just really wanted to rest in the shade of her airplane she's coasting on.

We also really loved the rustic nature of the Iron Horse by Office Depot. That horse really is attached to a train! The fun tall, flat rusted metal sculpture near Max’s diner, had the flat metal structure soaring 8 or 9 feet into the air and includes more metal artwork embedded in the cement holding the sculpture up. That was when Monkey spied the nearby Starbuck’s and there was no stopping us. We had to get an iced passion fruit iced tea before we could go on to my favorite, the People statue.

I took an adorable picture with Monkey posed in front of the left statue, a girl. Monkey agreed, this one is our favorite so far, made of some type of silver metal with heart cut-outs, it really does capture the essence of Central Park where my children frolicked and rode their bikes and played soccer. Of course, I did think of the fact that if my son had seen this 8 foot sculptures back when he was 3 or 4, he would have climbed them like Mt. Everest, but that’s for another story.

Monkey and I only found six sculptures that day before Monkey just broke down and we had to go home. Okay, maybe it was really my idea to head for home. The iced tea was gone and I couldn’t find another sculpture.

I sent a request to the city for more information on this amazing part of our culturally diverse city and hope to soon find out more than just the names of the structures. I’d like to find out about the artists and the date it was installed, and really, who named the sculptures? I mean, “People?” Oh, that’s right, I should talk, I have a sock monkey named, “Monkey.”

Happy hunting!