Bridging the gap: Sculpture unveiled on East Morris Street

Published 2:00 pm Friday, April 23, 2021

Sculptor Chris Beck said it was Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful Chairman Anthony Cline who said he would like to see a sculpture the group was commissioning “bridge the gap” between the east side of Dalton and the west side of the city.

“My brain is exploding at that point,” Beck said. “Bridges are cool, aesthetically and from an engineering side.”

On Thursday, Earth Day, Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful and Beck unveiled the results of more than a year of collaboration and work, a sculpture, “Among the Someone,” at Lackey Park, a pocket park near the intersection of Morris Street and Fields Avenue/Fifth Avenue. Made of recycled metal and plastic, the sculpture features a bridge over a no-longer-functioning fountain in the park. On the bridge are children playing with and helping one another.

The park was packed with Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful board members, the families of children who modeled for the sculpture and the children, and people who were just curious about what was going on.

“It’s exciting to see so many people out here today,” said Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful Executive Director Amy Hartline. “I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but I think people are really excited to see it. For some of the people who modeled for it, this is the first time they will get to see it.”

Hartline said the work was commissioned to celebrate Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful‘s 30th anniversary.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful board member Reed Fincher said he is proud of what Beck produced.

“We knew it would be great, but it’s even better than we thought it would be,” he said.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful board member Savannah Thomas agreed.

“We are so thrilled,” she said. “We’ve been working on this for over a year. Chris Beck is a pleasure to work with. I never doubted the quality of work, but it exceeded even what I was expecting. The attention to detail is amazing. He really put his heart and soul into this. There isn’t anyone else who could have done what Chris has done.”

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful board member Misty Silvers said she loves the piece.

“It’s really cool,” said her daughter Emery, who founded Keep It Clean Dalton, an initiative that encourages other young people to adopt a mile or particular location in Dalton that they will clean up four times a year.

Emery said she is really happy the piece was made from recycled materials.

Juan Martinez’s son Xavi and daughter Sophia were two of the models for the piece.

“He (Beck) has done an amazing job,” Martinez said. “My wife and I were talking about the fact that in the future when we drive by here we’ll always get to see what (Xavi) looked like when he was 7-years-old. My daughter Sophia is up there, too. She’s 5. So this is a really exciting day for us.”

Beck’s daughter Macey posed fishing off of the bridge.

“It was cool,” she said. “I’m so proud to be the daughter of a really amazing artist.”

The park was dedicated in 1999, and the fountain operated for several years. Dalton Public Works Director Andrew Parker said it was taken out of service around 2007 for several reasons. First, the area was in the midst of an extended drought, and officials said they could not justify continuing to use several thousands of gallons of water in the fountain. Parker said the fountain was also “routinely” vandalized by people putting soap or detergent in the water. He said there was an ongoing cost for labor and materials to test the water and make sure that it met public health standards.

Parker said Thursday he is proud of the sculpture and said it shows what can happen when people in the community work together.