The Bridge District
The Bridge District Art Guide
The Bridge District is an urban community located in West Sacramento, a short distance across the Sacramento River from Downtown Sacramento. The natural setting lends itself a very welcoming environment that is filled with recreational amenities such as River Walk Park, Sutter Health Park, The Barn, and the Mill Street Pier. To top it off, The Bridge District is home to an impressive art collection that is worth discovering in person!
I’ve complied a list of the many unique pieces you’ll find there below! The pieces are easily discovered by foot, bike, or scooter, and I would suggest taking a Jump bike from one to the next with a pit stop at Drake’s (more on that below!) to enjoy some pizza and beer!
Federico Diaz / Subtile, 2017
Czech artist Federico Diaz created this beautiful sculpture in Prague where it was then disassembled, shipped, and installed in West Sacramento, overlooking the Sacramento River on the bike trail. The piece is certainly the crown jewel of The Bridge District’s art collection and you won’t find anything like it in the Sacramento region!
Subtile is made up of nearly 34,000 stainless steel discs and when paired with the Delta breeze, the sculpture comes alive with reflections, movement, and even a faint chime-like sound.
You will see on the surface of the sculpture, the targets shimmer when the wind hits them, so they are connected with the nature and movement of the area. I wanted to capture it like leaves. So it’s also about attention. We don’t have time to see something that is natural and primitive so the sculpture activates our attention to something that is part of the space and surrounding area.
- Federico Diaz, from Submerge.com
The great part about this piece is you can visit it at nearly any time of day - although I would especially suggest going to see it at sunrise or sunset since you’ll get hints of reds, pinks, and oranges reflecting in the discs.
You might remember I matched this piece in August 2019 for my Visit Sacramento Instagram takeover!
Jun Kaneko / Dango (River Walk), 1994
Once you’ve spent some time checking up Subtile, you can continue south on the River Walk bike trail and you’ll find one of two works by Japanese sculptural ceramicist, Jun Kaneko. This piece features an intricate design of intersecting diagonals wrapping around a dango, (meaning “dumpling” or “closed form” in Japanese) which resembles a vase without an opening. Kaneko has become known for his Dango series, which often feature varying stripe, dot, or line patterns on the surface.
“Scale in nature presents a great challenge to all object-makers. Mountains, oceans, wind, and fire are all greater in scale than anything we could ever create. This reality of scale in nature presents us with the interesting problem of how to make man-made objects that are as strong as those in nature.”
- Jun Kaneko
Kaneko's technique involves the use of masking tape and colored slips, which he uses to cover free-standing ceramic forms and wall-hung pieces with graphic motifs and markings. He frequently favors abstract imagery such as straight, curved, or spiraled lines on his three-dimensional surfaces.
Kaneko’s piece just so happens to be the second piece of public art in The Bridge District that I’ve matched! I’ve given myself the personal challenge of matching all of the pieces in the art collection and I’m so proud of how this one turned out!
After you’ve checked out Dango, I would suggest making a pit stop at Drake’s, which is in the The Barn!
The Barn
picture courtesy of !melk
The Barn is an incredible feat of engineering that is absolutely worth checking out. The multi-use structure was designed by Jerry van Eyck and I would absolutely consider it a piece of art. Its curvilinear lines create a sense of movement and weightlessness that is optically both intriguing and impressive.
Programmatically, the project is comprised of two “pods” from which each side of the superstructure contacts the ground, an open air canopy, and a larger landscape that connects to the river walk and new development. The “pods” have different uses with one serving as a restaurant and the other serving as the leasing office for new developments around the Bridge District. The restaurant, which doubles as a beer garden, provides outdoor seating that will be protected from the sun beneath an 80-foot long canopy that soars 20-feet in the air.
The best way to check out The Barn is to visit Drake’s, which offers delicious pizza, 25+ beers on tap, wine, and cocktails. The space is kid-friendly and you can relax in their large open meadow or under The Barn, play lawn games, and they often have music! There is no entry fee and the space is perfect for an afternoon gathering, happy hour, or a pit stop on an art tour!
Janet Zweig / WEST, 2017
A bit further south of The Barn is the Mill Street Pier, which extends 120 feet into the Sacramento River. The views of the downtown Sacramento skyline are unobstructed and it provides a great panoramic view of the river!
Janet Zweig’s kinetic sculpture WEST is located at the end of the pier and pays an obvious homage to West Sacramento. The majority of Zweig’s art is located in the public realm and is often described as computer-driven language-generating sculpture, such as her piece WEST. She is currently a senior critic at the Rhode Island School of Design and a lecturer at Brown University’s Graduate Program in Public Humanities.
Pro tip: Visit the sculpture at night - WEST lights up and rotates!
Lily Therens & Jeremy Stanger / The Foundry Mural, 2020
While the majority of the art collection in The Bridge District is comprised of sculptures, don’t worry - there’s a mural there too! Lily Therens designed the Foundry Mural and painted it with the help of Jeremy Stanger. The piece pays homage to The Bridge District and filled with fun symbols and content relating to the community!
You can find the mural on the inside lobby of The Foundry.
Jun Kaneko / Dango (Garden Park), 1994
Last but not least, the second Jun Kaneko piece in The Bridge District’s art collection is another Dango located in Garden Park. The piece is a fabulous example of Kaneko’s artistry and skill with ceramic sculpture and shows the complexity of his abstracted surfaces. The drip pattern combined with the underlying geometry creates a dynamic surface that can be seen any angle while visiting Garden Park!
