Vision of art unraveled with help of sculpture artist
By Betsy Avelar Staff Writer
Gilroy – Early in 2007 Marlene Amerian will erect three bronze sculptures in the downtown core in conjunction with a major streetscape renovation.
Downtown has undergone significant changes through the so-called Streetscape project, which involved the renovation of sidewalks, roads, and additions such as shade trees, decorative lamp posts and crosswalks with inlaid lights. Median and parallel parking along Monterey Street between Eighth and Sixth streets was also added, but Amerian’s bronze sculptures will add a historical touch to the renovated downtown.
Last year, Arline Silva, a member of a committee of the Arts and Culture Commission, said that the statues will detail the histories of a bank, a hotel and a stage-coach stop as cornerstones of Gilroy’s historic downtown. The committee is thinking of topping the pedestals with “free form garlic-themed sculpture,”Silva said. The concepts are still in initial stages.
Though Amerian, a Morgan Hill resident, did not go into detail about the designs, she did say that the clothing of the characters in the sculptures will reflect the era of 1890 through 1910.
“They’re going to be there forever, and they have to be something that we can call our heritage,” said Amerian, who claims that the process has taken more than a year.
Dia F. Hoshida, chair of the Arts and Culture Commission for the city had no doubts about Amerian.
“We’ve seen her work; we’ve seen her design. She does beautiful work and captures the feeling of this area. She’s done a lot of historical research in this part of the county. She has a strong understanding of the past culture of Morgan Hill, Gilroy and the South Valley area,” said Hoshida.
These sculptures are not the first pieces of work Amerian will showcase in the South Valley. She made a few sculptures for the Morgan Hill train station and showed the sculptures to the Gilroy Art and Culture Committee. The idea of creating sculptures of early Morgan Hill families was to emphasize that the city was named after a landowner as opposed to a hill.
“She was referred to us by another local artist. After we saw her work, we can certainly see why,” said Silva.
Amerian began sculpting in 1985 after having established herself as a dedicated painter. The artist earned a masters degree in sculpture from San Jose State University and has studied sculpture anatomy at Scottsdale Artists’ School in Scottsdale, Ariz. , and Loveland Academy of Fine Arts in Loveland, Colo. She has lived and worked in Morgan Hill for more than 30 years.
But even after 21 years of learning the art of sculpting, crafting a sculpture takes months. First, Amerian researches the time period of her characters, then she creates miniature versions of the statues, and finally she uses live models to help her recreate the scene she has in mind. Working with oil-based clay that never fully dries, Amerian is able to tweak the figures as she pleases. It will take Amerian five months to create each sculpture.
The ideas are yet to be approved by the Gilroy City Council and will be placed on the consent agenda for the meeting in January where Amerian will be given a contract if approved.
For now, she is working on the drafts of the sculptures.
“I’m ecstatic because this is my area. I love the history,” said Amerian.
Betsy Avelar attends Gavilan College and is an intern for The South Valley Newspapers. Reach her at 847-7216 or ba*****@************ch.com.
