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In his studio in Hampton, New Brunswick, Canada, sculptor John Hooper is just finishing life size figures of four students and a dog for a new piece of public art that will stand at the entrance to Pilgrim School. Made of laminated Honduran mahogany, painted in bright colors, and weighing just about a ton, the sculpture will be driven 3,472 miles to Los Angeles in a rented truck by one of Hooper's sons. The arrival date is expected to be sometime in mid-September.

How did the idea for this dynamic, new public art sculpture germinate? The story is as interesting as the diversity of the people of Los Angeles. Attorney Laurence K. Brown, whose office is at 6222 Wilshire Boulevard near Museum Row, began five years ago to make frequent visits to LACMA and became more and more interested and knowledgeable about art. Although his mother had been an amateur artist, Mr. Brown had not been especially interested in art earlier. Among his interests are First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and Pilgrim School. He has been on both the church and school Board since his son began Kindergarten in the early seventies, and has been a contributor to a variety of projects at both the church and school.

During the last decade both the church and the school have completed projects that have helped beautify their acreage just across from the Superior Court House at Sixth and Commonwealth. In 1992, to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of the founding of First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, The Gardens of the Church project was created. Don Battjes, Chief of Operations and Facility Planning for LACMA and Chair at that time of the Church Board's Building and Grounds Committee, oversaw the project. Melendrew Design Associates created a landscape, lighting and wrought iron fencing plan for the entire church property, including the beautiful memorial entry gates at the front of the church. Today the cherry and jacaranda trees, the many blooming rose bushes, as well as extensive use of other trees and ground cover give delight and solace to the citizens of Los Angeles who live in the area or drive by on their way to and from work. Several years later an impressive entrance walkway and plantings

# posted by Medical Information : 4:23 AM