Over the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed some interesting characters lingering around downtown Plant City. They’re there when you drive by in the morning and still in their same place when you drive back by that evening.
If this sounds familiar, then you’ve noticed the J. Seward Johnson sculptures that have made their way back to Plant City.
The sculptures first made an appearance here in 2012 when the Plant City Photo Archives & History Center had them shipped in alongside a Smithsonian exhibition that they hosted in 2012. The Archives brought them back again the following year as well before the exhibits were taken over by the Arts Council of Plant City.
“We just felt like it was the perfect fit for us because it gave us an opportunity to not only promote the Arts Council, but it’s an open air exhibit that we have been able to bring in since then,” Arts Council president Marsha Passmore said.
The Arts Council aims to bring arts to the Plant City Community, to promote education in the arts and to develop artists and the arts programs, and money raised through the council’s fundraisers goes directly toward funding student scholarships in the arts. In addition to the J. Steward Johnson Sculptures, the organization is heavily involved in the Plant City Christmas Parade and sponsors Plant City’s annual ChiliFest, the City’s Lamppost Banner Program and the Reflections Art Program — a national program that affords local students the opportunity to have their art on display at the event.
The Arts Council uses funds budgeted to them from the City Commission each year to bring the sculptures back to Plant City and the Archives are still involved as they finance the insurance for the program. The sculptures are then shipped from California to Florida, set up and installed by Plant City’s General Services division, and call Plant City home for the next three months, usually scheduled around the Florida Strawberry Festival when people flood to the city.
The exhibit typically features 10 unique sculptures, but due to the rising price of transportation, only seven are in attendance this year. But to make up for a few less pieces of art around town, the Arts Council requested that all of the sculptures in town this year be ones that haven’t been a part of Plant City’s exhibit in prior years.
You can stroll around downtown Plant City to check out all of the displays for yourself, following along with the map available at the Archives, or take a guided tour led by Gil Gott, former executive director of the Plant City Archives & History Center. While the time and date for the guided tour is yet to be finalized, you can contact the Arts Council of Plant City or the Archives for more information.