A new Montclair mattress store’s name would seem to promise a smooth, uninterrupted eight-hour ride through Slumberland. Jet-lagged from vacation, I would love to board the sleep train. Perhaps the dining car serves warm milk.
A couple of under-seen art pieces from the 1960s popped up recently in the Pomona Council Chambers. Both are by Claremont artist Betty Davenport Ford.
Up top is “Pigeons,” a bronze cast of a piece that was once located on West Second Street and dated to the Pedestrian Mall days. The original was stolen from Second and Gordon streets in the 1970s. A new version was cast in 2003 at the behest of the Vehicle Parking District board but was never displayed until now. It’s on a table to the right of the council dais.
At right is “Gazelle.” The stone and clay work was once also displayed at Second and Gordon as part of a fountain, but I believe the fountain was taken out when Gordon was closed. “Gazelle” grazed in the City Hall lobby the past few years until its recent leap to the Council Chambers foyer, where it stands nobly under the thermostat.
A half-dozen other art pieces, from tile mosaics to cast bronze statues, remain as part of the fountains dotting East and West Second Street.
I left on furlocation Feb. 25 and returned Saturday. (More on this later.)
What did I miss? Answer the question however you like.
