Public Art

The Sundial, on the circle in Barnwell, SC

For over 150 years, Barnwell's rare vertical sundial has given the correct time of day to passersby.

It is thought to be the only one of its kind remaining in America. Legend has it that this is the only vertical sundial in the United States and though erected two years prior to standard time, it keeps within two minutes of that. Captain Joseph D. Allen, a wealthy Barnwell resident, and a lover of monuments,

had the sundial made in Charleston.

Thank you Barry & Linda for choosing this topic; at first I had no idea what I was going to do, not only do we only have a small selection of public art in our small town but I’m nursing a bum knee so am not getting on very much.

As I decided to look through my collection of photos I did come across a few that depict Public Art; some are crazy shots of my children “enjoying” public art, some are of public art we’ve enjoyed during our travels.

Dorie, in front of Horse statues we saw while on a  road trip.

 "The Whole Wide World of Charleston" according to Dorie...

Monument to Francis Marion

 

Becki, wrestling an alligator.... and Andrew enjoying a glass of coke.

and finally….

A type of public art that is very near and dear to not only my soul but my family… the Pow Wow photos.

As much as I enjoy celebrating our Irish bloodline, my brother went further and embraced our Native American roots. Although we were not raised “native” we did live on the outskirts of the reservation for 2 years in Oklahoma and were always reminded where we (our great-grandmother) came from.

During the past several decades we began going to Pow Wows and selling Cree Style drums my brother had learned to make while in Maine along with wares from various tribes that we bought from. Brad, my brother loved to dance and although I only took part once, I was always proud to watch him and others as they enjoyed the drums, the people and being outside.

Brad and Dorie during Dorie's first dance.

 

Sadly, Brad passed away this past Christmas Eve morning with no warning and his death has been a hard row to plow as the saying goes… as I opened a file and saw the words pow wow I had to make myself look at the photos and suddenly I was transported to that field in South Georgia with the warmth of the sun shinning down, the sound of drums and drummers and the wonderful smell of Sage, Sweet Grass and Copal burning and the fry bread frying… and I remembered an old proverb he was found of…. There are no bad days, even when things are difficult all days are good ones.

Brad and Dorie resting after a dance... learning to drum.