Brad Spencer Sculpture in Brick

Sculpture with a sense of place

Gastonia work depicts mill culture, music; dedication set for Sept. 18.

Public art: a good idea that sometimes goes haywire.

Two or three examples come to mind from around the region -abstract pieces that say nothing about the place they're supposed to represent.

Art connoisseurs might understand them. But the stuff makes no sense to me.

Recently, I came across an example of public art that does say something about a particular place.

It's in the heart of downtown Gastonia, at the new South Street pedestrian plaza - gateway to the Rotary Centennial Pavilion.

The first of three brick sculptures created by Reidsville-based artist Brad Spencer, 52, has just gone up there. A brick sculptor since 1989, he's crafted art in such places as Charlotte, Durham, Raleigh, Greensboro, Asheville and Greenville, S.C.

Spencer creates the brick sculptures in his Reidsville studio. Unfired clay brick material is carved and assembled; then Spencer takes the pieces apart, brick by brick, has the brick fired and reconstructs the piece on site.

Gastonia's first major public art project, funded by $75,000 from the city, will be made up of works 7 to 8 feet tall.

City spokeswoman Rachel Bagley said a citizens committee suggested to Spencer which images should go on most of the sculptures. She said the pieces will be highlights of the plaza dedication ceremony Sept. 18.

Musical images

The afternoon I stopped by, Spencer was working on the section that depicts Crowders Mountain, along with native plants and animals and Catawba Indian-inspired pots. All these images are from the area's pre-history.

Another sculpture will focus on modern history, and textiles will be a major part.

Spencer had a great idea: crafting a mill window in the brick where you can see children and adults working in different rooms.

A guitar will remind folks of the rich musical heritage that mill workers brought down from their mountain homes.

Spencer has done his homework - and sought inspiration.

To get in the mood for the sculpting project, he listened to the CD anthology, "Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mill Songs & Hillbilly Blues," that came out late last year.

Songs like "Cotton Mill Blues" and "Walk Right in Belmont" fed his imagination.

Spencer was tapping into the first collection celebrating Gaston's largely forgotten music scene, one that reintroduced the work of unsung musicians like Gwin Foster, Wilmer Watts & the Lonely Eagles and David McCarn - the Woody Guthrie of textiles.

In the 1920s and '30s, Gastonia was the center of mill music and laid the foundation for modern country music. Including a few musical images from that hillbilly Jazz Age is an inspired touch.

Downtown looking better

I'm also glad Spencer is putting train images in the piece. Gastonia wouldn't be here without the railroads.

Trains do the down-and-dirty work, but they also bring a touch of poetry as they roll through Gaston's towns and countryside.

In the sculpture, a train spews smoke from which Gaston icons spill out: Tony's Ice Cream, Highland High School's ram mascot, Parkdale Mills, Mary Jo's Cloth Store, the faith community, a pig representing barbecue and a catfish.

The third sculpture in the series will represent Gastonia's future. And here, Bagley told me, a key element is "cooperation to build a community."

Spencer came up with this image: a group of people handing buckets of water to each other and passing them along the line.

In his research, Bagley said, Spencer found that despite occasional bad times, the local people kept bouncing back. That resiliency had impressed him, and he expressed it in the sculpted picture of a bucket brigade.

Downtown Gastonia is already looking better. The new plaza and sculptures will step up the profile another notch.

Spencer has created pieces with homegrown images that are entirely accessible. I agree with his artistic philosophy: public space belongs to everybody, so it's important that public art make sense.