Published in the September 27 – October 10, 2017 issue of Morgan Hill Life
“Celebrate the Arts!” mural artist Sheryl Cathers in front of her work in downtown Gilroy.
Photo by Marty Cheek
The Leadership Gilroy Class of 2017 will host a ribbon cutting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the Gilroy Center for the Arts to present to the South Valley its class project — a mural called “Celebrate the Arts!” painted by local artist Sheryl Cathers. The mural’s message seeks to encourage young people to appreciate the various forms of art and to engage in expressing their own creativity through painting, dance, cooking, theater, literature, singing, photography, filmmaking and all the other forms of art.
We encourage everyone including residents of Morgan Hill and San Martin to attend the special ceremony and see the beauty of South Valley’s latest public art project. It’s a reminder that good community-focused art enhances the downtown districts and makes the experience of visiting a city’s hub much more colorful and interesting.
A city would be an extremely sterile place if there were no murals and sculptures to engage the mind. We share a common bond of humanity through the arts that are created in our region. It’s good for local citizens to visit both Gilroy and Morgan Hill’s downtown and enjoy an art walk.
Morgan Hill has plenty of sculptures. A good place to start is at the corner of Third and Depot streets where Marlene Amerian’s “Waiting for the Train” life-sized bronze sculpture shows the town’s pioneer family Hiram Morgan Hill, Diana Hill, and their young daughter, Diane, standing with their suitcases as they wait by the railroad track. It’s a wonderful added attraction for families who will come to visit the soon-to-be-opened train-themed public playground next to it.
Morgan Hill’s downtown parking garage which opened in the spring of 2016 has two excellent artworks created by internationally renowned artist Gordon Huether. The Poppy Jasper Wall on the Third Street entrance is a three story-tall representation of Morgan Hill’s official gemstone. The best time to view it is in the evening hours when it is lit up from behind to create a fiery shimmer. Guarding the Fourth Street entrance of the garage is Huether’s whimsical spider, a nod to the tarantulas of Henry W. Coe State Park. It’s made of car headlights which have LED lights in them that make it glow like a giant insect broach at night.
At the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center’s plaza on Monterey Road, visitors pass through the arching sculpture “Encompass” created by Blessing Hancock. Made from bicycle wheels, the artwork is lit by changing colored lights at night to create a strange entrance that seems right out of a science-fiction film.
Downtown Gilroy is also well worth a visit to view the public art works. The most notable are the graceful sculptures made by Marlene Amerian that represent historic men and women of Gilroy’s early years. These works of art are placed along Monterey Road at various locations including in front of the Old City Hall Restaurant and Pinnacle Bank.
Gilroy’s downtown business district also features a multitude of large-scale murals representing the city’s historic heritage. Chief among them is the “Gilroy, Garlic Capital of the World” mural on a Fifth Street parking lot wall looking down at the weekly farmers market stalls. Painted by an Italian artist who visited the city in 1993, this public work of art shows the history and ag industry of the stinking rose with almost photographic detail. It’s a favorite place for visitors to take a selfie with the mural behind them.
We hope families from throughout the South Valley will take time to visit the “Celebrate the Arts!” mural in downtown Gilroy. Because of budget cuts in music, painting and other art training in the public schools, many local children are not receiving the education in the arts that they deserve to grow as well-rounded human beings. We hope that perhaps some youngsters might be inspired by the new mural that they can also participate in the visual or performing arts. Who knows? There might be a budding Picasso or Rembrandt in the area who, years from now, might be inspired to create more public art to enhance downtown Gilroy or Morgan Hill.
