Art in Claremont

Dear Editor:

We read with great interest your article about the Claremont Community Foundation’s recent celebration. All of Claremont benefits from the CCF, and we wish them many more years of success and support from the city they serve.  

One of the projects mentioned by the CCF is the John Fisher Project, a six-week public art event held in Shelton Park, where members of the community watched a sculpture emerge from 14 tons of marble. Over the years, those of us involved in organizing The John Fisher Project continue to hear wonderful stories from those whose lives it touched, and who still feel a strong sense of participation and ownership in the magic that took place during the spring of 2001:

From the child who showed John where a cat wanted to materialize from the stone (and it did!), to the woman who rode the bus every day to watch John carve. From the hundreds of Claremont school children who donated pocket change, to the friend who encouraged the city to participate so the marble could travel from the Italian Alps to Claremont before the winter freeze. Not to mention the young boy who came to the park with his detective kit to help investigate after the sculpture was vandalized. All who participated are a part of the sculpture and contributed to the positive shift the event had in Claremont’s collective psyche.

The people who brought you the John Fisher project are currently planning another public art project.  We are targeting this project for spring of 2010, again at Shelton Park.  As plans unfold we’ll begin sharing details with the community, and we’ll look forward to seeing you in the park!

Diana Miller
Cathy Curtis
Joan Bunte
Art in the Community