Diana “Living a Potter’s Dream”
documents a talented woman’s first important public art commission. Her Catalpa-Pershing Bridge Reconstruction designs will make San Antonio’s historic Brackenridge Park more beautiful for a century to come.
When I started shooting Diana in 2011, she was still involved with urban planners of the city's bond-funded $1.4 million Catalpa Pershing Bridge Project. This Trailer opens with one of many meetings Diana had--with everyone from concerned neighbors, to builders & architects, to arts administrators--to create art for their pair of rebuilt bridges.
Even though it's now complete and open to traffic, Mulberry Street Bridge was a building site when I shot this Trailer. You see the nitty-gritty work Diana did on this one bridge. Hustling so her 24 ceramic panels could be installed before construction scaffolding was taken down, Diana and assistant Sara tag-teamed to get the clay shapes assembled, double-glazed with cobalt blue and chartreuse clay slip, then Diana's favorite turquoise treatment to withstand the elements. They cut apart and labeled every panel, fired them, and hauled 1.25 tons of tiles to the site in jig-saw pieces for installation.
Diana's large tile bas-reliefs of lively Gulf Coast Toads now attract both children and the kid in all of us. We see tales of amphibian egg “tape” floating in the river, several ages of tadpoles, “froglets,” and adults licking their toady chops at insect meal choices.
Both Diana and I have moved on to the second bridge, Mill Race, with its golf motif. You can see that process unfolding on the Mill Race Bridge-Trailer.
Mulberry Street runs through Brackenridge Park between Broadway and U.S. 281. Just southwest of the bridge is the Old Brack golf course, and on the northwest, the model railroad runs by. On the southeast side, a senior center is located, and the northeast side borders a great old kiddie park that you can see in this pic. Fun for all the family.
Diana was the “Artist of the Month” of June 2011 on SA Arts Guide to Culture and Arts in San Antonio. See her bio and art pix there, including the now complete Mulberry Bridge Toad part of her commission.
sahearts.com/page/artist_June2011
kickstarter.com/projects/standarddefinition/diana-living-a-potters-dream-documentary-video?ref=card
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