resized 2I recently received a text message from an art collector who had bought one of my sculptures last May, Back then, at his request, I had installed the sculpture, Joie de Vivre, on his rock wall that borders the street. He was delighted with it. The installation had been a real logistical challenge since the sculpture weighs 150# and needed to be anchored on top of a 4 foot high stone column. Everything was hunky dory until last week when I got a text from him saying that the wall had just been hit by a car. Turns out that a dude in a stolen car was being chased by police, lost control of his car and plowed through the wall at 3 am, pushing the entire wall off its footer. car that plowed through wall

 

Surprisingly, the driver survived, but went to the hospital. Then, to jail. overI stopped by the site and was amazed at the destruction! bent fingers 2There was some damage to the sculpture’s right arm and hand that is going to require removing her and taking her to the foundry for repairs. I guess the guys and I did a hell of a job mounting the sculpture given that the sculpture remained anchored to the stone column–in spite of the impact!

over from rear 3This was the SECOND time that the property owner’s wall had been taken out by a car crashing into it! I had been asked to install the sculpture after the wall was rebuilt following the first crash, which was about 3 years ago. That car was driven by a 16 year old girl who did not survive the crash, partly because her car went further down the ridge into the trees and caught fire before responders could rescue her. I will end this tale with what the property owner then texted me later. Turns out that the mother of the girl who had died in the previous crash lives nearby and was touched last spring when she saw that a sculpture of a little girl had been installed at the site of her daughter’s death. She told the property owner that, each time she drove by after the sculpture was installed, she saw it as the joyful spirit of her daughter. Needless to say, the mother found it distressing to see the sculpture down! As did I. While the wall is being reconstructed, Joie de Vivre will be repaired at the foundry and then re-installed.