This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
(Written by Joe Bieker)
Longmont has many public parks, and perhaps while visiting Roosevelt Park you’ve wondered about the dressed up animal sculpture on the East side of the park. I’ll admit it took me several passes of glancing at it, over several months, before I stopped to investigate what the sculpture was all about. I briefly read the accompanying plaque title, and because I had grown up with people with the last name of “Raffe”, I never, previous to this investigation, picked up on the clue as to what type of animal was being depicted.
What animal is depicted in the sculpture in Roosevelt Park? The answer is a fictional artist rendering of a giraffe dressed as a woman. Her name is Minelda G. Raffe. Her story is about being a citizen of Longmont during the time of Vice President Theodore Roosevelt’s famous train visit in 1900. He is the only to-be President of the U.S. to ever formally stop in Longmont, and hence the naming of the park after him.
Lauren Greenfield, Art in Public Places director, ([email protected]; 303-651-8924) worked with sculpture artist Michele VandenHeuvel, as one of her first major placements in her position with Art in Public Places. She stated that the artist “intended playfulness and fiction intermingled with the historical factual to create a piece that would draw people to and into the Park. With that in mind, there are intentional, whimsical pieces belonging to Minelda scattered around the concrete sidewalk that is an oblong circle inside the park. It encourages visitors to explore the complete park and look for the items, such as her purse, and perhaps imagine what that time was like.”
The artist specifically picked out the rocks that the items rest on around the park to help preserve her interpretation and presentation of her artwork. Continuing the mix of historical and fiction, the storyline on the plaque describes a typical day in 1900 and how the fictional Minelda spent the day at the park.
Erik Mason of the Longmont Museum, affirmed that the artist visited the museum several times to research the Roosevelt visit and other events of the time, to gain knowledge of historical information for the creation of her work. Erik stated that he “enjoys when artists show an interest in history.” The artist won over 100 other submissions and hails from Santa Fe, New Mexico; so it was reassuring that not being from the Longmont area, the artist did her historical research.
Art in Public Places currently has 70 works around the city. When pressed to name the top three “more popular” works, Loren offered, “First, we get a lot of commentary about the Listening Stone, placed along the St. Vrain near the intersection of the streets Rogers and Hover. Secondly, the Airplane along Airport Road, which connects obviously to the Vance Brand Airport. Next, probably the Gateway work along the diagonal (highway 119).”
Having learned this, and about Art in Public Places, I’ve noticed many other works and have a new appreciation and I look out for the works. Perhaps you’ll discover your own favorite pieces as you get around Longmont.
In order to learn more about Art in Public Places please feel free to contact Laruen by calling 303-651-8924 or by email at [email protected].
Joe's Walk Talk is a new column, where he walks around Longmont exploring what the city has to offer. If you feel like you have a story that you think Joe would be interested in please send it to [email protected].
