Seward Johnson Sculptures To Be Placed Around Metuchen This Week

METUCHEN, NJ – If you’re walking around the borough and find famous sculptures by Seward Johnson, don’t be surprised.

The Borough and the Metuchen Downtown Alliance have entered into a partnership with The Seward Johnson Atelier, which is based in Hamilton, Mercer County, Mayor Jonathan M Busch announced.

Under the multi-faceted partnership, a few of Johnson’s pieces will be placed around Metuchen.

“Metuchen is joining a select number of other communities around the world that feature Johnson’s dynamic work, including a handful in New Jersey. To start, three of Johnson’s sculptures will be strategically placed around Metuchen and beginning in 2024, those sculptures will be replaced by five others at additional sites around the Borough,” Busch said on Facebook.

Born in New Brunswick in 1930, Johnson was a famous sculptor and philanthropist known for his life-size bronze sculptures of people involved in day-to-day activities.

He founded the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton.

Through the Grounds for Sculpture, he wished to make contemporary sculpture and art accessible to people from all backgrounds. He died in 2020 at the age of 89.

Last week, Busch, along with Borough Administrator Melissa Perilstein and Metuchen Downtown Alliance Director Dawn Mackey met with the Atelier’s Program Manager Lynn DeClemente Losavio.

“We really look forward to this relationship which, in addition to the sculptures, will present a variety of programmatic opportunities for Metuchen surrounding Johnson’s work,” Busch said.

“Additionally, a significant part of the Atelier’s mission involves education and we hope to provide our schools with a range of art-related educational resources for our students.”

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