Description

This sculptural gathering place, located at the northwest section of the park, consists of five freestanding mosaic features that are arranged in a circular configuration, with a grassy mound or ‘henge’ all around. The idea for the project, or theme, speaks to the ancient megalithic gathering stones of Stonehenge located in England. To commemorate the past, each sculptural feature stands as a “stela” with details in mosaic expressing a visual and literal story about the history of water and the ground-water once plentiful beneath the Los Angeles basin. Each sculpture tells the story of how the area was once affected by large amounts of water. Engraved tiles with written facts about the history and the future of water conservation are integrated into the mosaics. The tallest sculpture, 15 feet high, represents the ocean and the prehistoric life forms found under water millions of years ago, and is crowned with a gold painted metal sun with a hole in the center. The second sculpture reflects the era when the ocean receded and dinosaurs roamed the resulting marshlands, and the third mirrors the next period of flat fields bearing animal paw prints and human footprints. The fourth sculpture, only 2 feet high, appears to melt into the earth and invites visitors to climb and sit. The fifth and smallest sculpture, at the exact center of the circle, symbolizes the minimal amount of water available today and incorporates the four points of the compass. All five together operate as a sundial: a shadow is always cast from the “sun catcher” atop the tallest sculpture, and the smallest sculpture is used to read the time and season. At high-noon on both Spring and Fall equinox, a shadow from the metal sun cut-out atop the highest sculpture casts its shadow, and falls directly onto the smallest sculpture in the center. The written details of that story in the epochs of time, from 40 million years ago, are engraved into orange bands of ceramic tile explaining what was once there, and underground. When the project was first completed, several classes of 3rd graders came from nearby elementary schools to watch the shadow cast it’s sun onto the smallest center sculpture as a celebration for the beginning of Springtime.

A special THANK YOU goes to the following: the artist’s husband Dennis Reiter who is an amazing artist, business partner and photographer, Woody Woodburn of ProFoam, Inc., William Hagland Engineering, Bravo Signs, Inc. for the installation, Bob’s Crane Service for transportation, A-Star Engraving of tiles, City of Cerritos, Los Angeles County – Civic Art commission & Los Angeles County Supervisor, Don Knabe.