Read the sign: Arts Commission launches new project

Signs inspired by Connecticut-based artist

By Evan Jensen

The Estacada News, Jul 28, 2010, Updated Jul 28, 2010 (1 Reader comment)

Estacada Area Arts Commission chair Gloria Polzin stands outside the Estacada Public Library by the "Imagine" sign in the library's outdoor labyrinth. Polzin spearheaded a project to install six signs in Estacada inspired by the work of artist June Bisantz's work, "Signs of Life," in Pittsfiled, Mass.

Evan Jensen / Estacada News

About three years ago, longtime Estacada residents Gloria Polzin and her husband, Jerry, took a trip to the east coast to take in the fall colors of the Berkshire Mountains. In between soaking in the leafy hues of chestnut oak, black cherry, sugar maple, sycamore and others, the Polzins stopped to see what was happening in Pittsfield, Mass.

“It’s a town way bigger than Estacada,” Gloria Polzin said. “It might be more like the size of Salem. When we got there, I realized there was art everywhere. There were decorated hay people on different street corners and signs that looked like street signs but were actually part of a public art project.”

With Halloween just around the corner, the hay figures were part of the town’s Hayman Scarecrow Project, and the curious and thoughtful signs were part of a project called Signs of Life, created by artist June Bisantz.

Polzin was so intrigued by the Signs of Life project, which offered pedestrians and drivers words of wisdom, thoughtful musings and humor, that she began thinking about creating something similar in Estacada.

“There were signs that said things like, “Philosophers park here,’ and ‘Meet Here,’ and some signs arrows that made you look at something,” Polzin said. “I thought, ‘How cool is this?’ and started thinking of ways we could do this in Estacada.”

Polzin’s vision, inspired by Bisantz, finally came to life earlier this month with six of the first signs in the project installed throughout Estacada. Polzin, the chair of the Estacada Arts Commission, proposed the idea to board members after she returned from her fall colors trip. From money raised during the Estacada Summer Celebration each year, the commission granted $350 and approved the creation and installation of the first six signs.

“It’s exciting to know other people have been inspired by my work and created signs of their own,” Signs of Life artist June Bisantz said from her home in Connecticut. “It’s amazing. It’s the ultimate expression of the success of my work in a way.”

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