A walk through the sculpture garden, I

One look at the granddaughter posing with this frog told me I had to spend more time than a cold, pre-Christmas Nutcracker intermission allowed to enjoy the sculpture garden at Yavapai College. I had that chance Saturday, which was a sunny and warm fall day. The amphibian Leaps and Bounds is the creation of John Skurja of Skurja Art Castings. FYI, the garden is on the southwest side of the performance hall.

Community Gothic is a dour contrast to the cheerful frog. It seems to me that this uptight family would be much more comfortable in winter than in warmer times (below). The pamphlet guide to the garden suggests viewing Richard Marcusen's sculpture at night when the work casts dramatic, enlarged shadows on the wall.

Just before I photographed Helix by Tom McClure, a mother had to shoo her little boy off the big, bright aluminum piece. I can see that it would be a temptation to any lively youngster!

This abstraction is Seated Woman by Michael Anderson. Curious -- from the angle below, I get it. The cold winter picture above, taken from the other side, shows merely one more modern sculpture.

A piece of me said, "come on now, you can't be serious" when I first saw this array of flagstones. But I followed the instructions from creators Rebecca Davis and Roger Asay and walked through and around the runes, took pictures -- and kept taking pictures! It was hard to make a selection for this post.

Color is beginning to develop on the side faces of The Gathering, a fountain formed from copper by Gary Slater. It is the centerpiece of a pleasant circular arrangement.

As you can imagine, the wind is a necessary partner to the three whirligig towers in stainless steel and copper, created by Lyman Whitaker. I especially liked the view that suggests that they might be one with the trees. More views below.

Though not part of the sculpture garden, there were two art works on the back side of the performance hall as I continued the walk. The plaques above are dedicated to Viola Jimulla, a past chieftess of the local Yavapai Indian Tribe.

And I know nothing about this creation which features wood and a lot of gears. But it is certainly eye-catching.

And, finally, I couldn't resist creating a sculpture of my own with the camera. In reality, the object above is a microwave dish atop the building. There's more to the garden than I've had time and space to present here; it's a lovely example of desert landscaping, which will have to wait for another post.