The clay sculpture murals at the Capitol Plaza Holiday Inn were created by someone but just who remains a mystery. Ceramic artist, Stan Bitters, was one promising lead, but no record was found identifying him as the artist and he himself, via email, stated that he has never done work in Sacramento. Regardless who created…
Category: 1970’s

State of California Sculpture Plaza ~ 7th/8th & N/O
Who knew? Sacramento has a small but interesting sculpture terrace in a promising but seemingly under-used park that sits hidden atop the roof of a subterranean building on the square block bordered by 7th/8th and N/O Streets. Three of five original sculptures (all installed between 1978-1986) remain in the park surrounded by grassy slopes, trees,…

Shimizu Fountains ~ 700 H
Modeled after Japanese origami forms, two very ’70s metal fountains with large burnt orange pools sit in the North and South plaza entrances to the Sacramento County Administration Building (1). These fountains, and an interior wall sculpture of a similar design, were created by Seiji Shimizu in 1977. The south plaza fountain is the smaller…

VandenBerge Mural ~ 4th & K
This hand-made glazed-tile mural sits along a wall at the west end of the Downtown Plaza mall, just before the covered walkway leading to Old Sac. The mural was created by local artist, Peter VandenBerge (1). VandenBerge attended CSUS in 1954, UCD in 1963, and was a graduate student of Robert Arneson (2). He started…