four lakes

last summer, madison installed the sculpture "four lakes" on state street at frances street. it sits between the beer garden at state street brats and the entrance of the campus inn. the abstract sculpture uses four boulders and a stream of water carved into a raised stone slab to represent the distinct inland water features of the madison area. i like it quite a bit.

but, in addition to the smooth gray stone structures, there is also a mean-looking bronze badger with two baby badgers. the animals are bolted to the end of the stone slab. in my opinion, it is jarring to view. it is incongruous at best. david disagrees with me; he likes the badgers with the rest of the sculpture.

on a sunny family walk this weekend, we visited the four lakes sculpture. here are some photos of the bronze badgers. (unfortunately, i don't have any photos of the entire sculpture, so you'll just have take my word for the fact that the badger statue doesn't fit with the rest of the sculpture).


they are less friendly looking than bucky, the standard by which all badger disposition ought to be measured.

here is a short excerpt from the isthmus newspaper from august, 2009, regarding the sculpture.

Lakes made of stone

The city of Madison has quietly unveiled its latest piece of public art.

Called "Four Lakes," the $230,000 sculpture sits on the pedestrian section of Frances Street on the south side of State Street (next to State Street Brats). The final piece of the State Street redevelopment project, it was paid for with a combination of tax incremental financing and a federal grant.

The sculpture was created by Andrea Myklebust and Stanton Gray Sears of Stockholm, Wis. It consists of four large pieces of granite, representing the area's major lakes (Mendota, Monona, Waubesa and Kegonsa), with a fountain down the middle. At one end is a badger with her offspring, carved out of bronze.

"It was such a challenging piece," says Karin Wolf, Madison's arts program administrator. "They had to leave an 11-foot clearance for emergency vehicles. They couldn't move any of the light poles."

Ald. Verveer, who pushed for inclusion of public art on State Street, is pleased with the sculpture. "I've seen a number of people enjoying it, particularly kids," he says. "That was the intention behind it."