Hello friends and Hivians! Hope all is going well. I'm doing great as I'm just coming off a 3 day weekend. I had the opportunity to do many things. One of those opportunities was having the time to search for a collection of painted art benches.
The particular set of benches I seeked are all located in Sarpy County, Nebraska. They represent the history of the area through art. These were created in 2007 to mark the 150th anniversary (1857-2007) of the county. There are numerous artist that painted these. The series is called, Plains to Planes.
In all there are around 40 of them. My search included looking for 11 of them in the city of Bellevue, Nebraska. Sadly 3 of them were not found either due to a business closure or there being moved elsewhere. Here we go let's get to it!
The title of this bench is The Hunt. The art work was done by Sharon Clawson. You can find this bench at Washington Park which is at the intersection of Franklin Street and 20th Avenue.
This bench really shows the truth how the Natives respected the Buffalo and the hard truth that the Frontiermans hunted them for sport. A huge difference as the Natives were very resourceful using almost every part of the Buffalo. The frontierman were the complete opposite as there were occasions they just hunted for the sole reason of just killing. They almost ran the Buffalo into extinction.
Here we have a bench named, Endangered. The artist of this piece is Leslie Bruning. You can find this bench at Bellevue Unversity which is at 1000 Galvin Road South.
Now seeing the previous Buffalo bench you have already guessed the Buffalo was once endangered. Now if you look closely or enlarge the photo you will notice a fish under the seat part of the bench. This is a Pallid Sturgeon which is currently an endangered species. I have fished in this area for quite a few years and have caught just one. The fish I caught was about 15 lbs but they can grow up to 85 lbs and live to nearly 100 years old.
This bench is titled, Soaring. It the same artist as above and is located just a few yards away from the other. This artwork showcases a P-51 Mustang (World War II aircraft) and some bird species that habit here or pass thru the area during migration. It's neat that artist used a lot of blue and white to represent the sky and clouds in the images.
Another Buffalo bench and not the last one. This one actually represents the more realistic look of one with its natural colors. This one is titled, Roam On Home, and the artist is Adam Weiss. It's located at the Fontelle Forrest Tree Rush Adventure Park located at 1111 Bellevue Blvd North.
Another P-51 aircraft and yes not the last one. This one is the work of the same artist above. It sits at the Offutt Collision Repair located at 10106 South 15th Street. Initially I thought this one rusty and began to think how can an auto body shop have rusty sheet metal displayed. It's all paint and is very smooth to the touch.
I have to say this one was my favorite one. The title of this Buffalo shaped bench is Settling the Plains. The work on this was done by Greg Holdren. It currently sits at Hillcrest Health Systems, a senior living center located at 4609 Hilltop street.
I really appreciate the subject matter and the early beginnings of this area. For me it shows a lot history with the cabin, barn, out buildings,farm house, tractor and the clothing worn by the homesteaders. I just wish I could have got a better picture of the back view. There was a tree really close to it casting shadows all over it.
Here we are the last of the P-51 aircraft benches I will share today. This one is titled, Planes at Play. The artist on this bench is Sue Gardner Fenster. It sits at Everett Park located near the intersection of Betz Road and Greensboro Avenue.
I like the front view as it show cases a painted patriotic look with my country's flag. The reverse view shows a plane completing a loop while flying over a small community. Off to the left of the community is a one room school house.
Here we are the last one I will share with you today. This Buffalo bench title is Homeage. The artists is Paula Yoachim. It sits on the property of McCallie Associates, Inc. located at 3906 Raynor PKWY. This one shows how the Native American held the Buffalo and birds such as the Eagle sacred. In some of thier cultures they were treated as spirits and they even prayed to them.
I hope you enjoyed seeing this unique bench art which circled around the history in this area. Out of curisity, which one did you like the most? Feel free to share below in the comments. Hopefully I'll get to see many more of them soon and share them with you again.
Take care, stay safe and have a great week ahead. Until next time!