Surprise Visit in Spring Lake

Last Sunday was a beautiful day in New Jersey. After a gloomy (though not very 

snowy) winter, spring arrived. Don and I decided to take advantage of the lovely day with a walk on the boardwalk (about an hour away).

That always prompts the question, which one? Belmar is the closest. Point Pleasant is the most touristy. Asbury Park and Ocean Grove we went to recently. Ocean City is nice, but farther away. 

For some reason that day we chose Spring Lake, possibly because of its charming Main Street area. We had no idea we were in for a pleasant surprise. The day before Spring Lake unveiled a Seward Johnson Sculpture Exhibit (running through July 7, 2019) featuring 16 of his his "celebrating the familiar" sculptures.

We've been Seward Johnson fans for a long time. The year he took over Grounds for Sculpture with his statues (only fair because he owns the grounds), we became members.
We have seen his sculptures all over the globe, in New York City, at the Corcoran in DC with Dave and Wendy, plus random spottings that did not make the Pillsbury Press. His statues of people are iconic.

After walking the boardwalk, we looked for the four-block Main Street, which is actually called 3rd Avenue (a name that will help us find it next time). As we drove into town on Passaic Avenue we saw our first Seward Johnson sculpture (Allow Me) across from the train station, but thought the town only owned one and did not stop. We didn't realize it was part of an exhibit. Later that became the last sculpture we saw. All in all, there are 16 sculptures. You can easy see them all in an hour, even with stopping to pose with the sculptures and take pictures.

As we stopped and took pictures, we noticed others doing the same. Families were having fun interacting with them. They made people smile. 

Here are the sixteen statues:

Bunnies Don't Bite

Keeping in Touch

Return Visit

Food, Wine, and Thou (with Special Delivery in the background)

Weekend Painter

Sidewalk Concert

The coins in the bricks are part of the exhibt

Just a Taste

Ambassador of the Streets (in front of an upscale pet store)

Uninvited Advice

Who's in Charge

Crossing Paths

Yuck, Go Fetch

Big Sister

Special Delivery

Note the address on the top letter: a letter from the IRS to Seward Johnson

Photo Shoot

Allow Me

Many of these sculptures were first created in the 1980s and 1990s. They are cast bronze, and remade over the years, therefore you can see the same statue in different places on the same day. The attention to detail is like a time capsule. The Members Only jacket, the Jordache jeans, the brands of sneakers ... all evoke memories in those of us old enough to have seen the originals in our daily lives. 

The exhibit is free and worth seeing if you are in the area before July 7th.