Bruce Johnson sculpture installed at entrance to Joe Rodota Trail

Paid for by development fees, the city's newest piece of public art makes its debut

“Koan” by sculptor Bruce Johnson. (Photo by Taylor Lampson )

A sculpture by artist Bruce Johnson, who died in 2023, was installed yesterday at the head of the Joe Rodota Trail on Petaluma Avenue.

The artwork is called “Koan.”

The city’s Public Art Committee put out a Call for Artists earlier this year and received around 30 entries, according to Committee Chair Robert Brent.

“The Arts Committee narrowed that down to three finalists, and then we had a public meeting at the library, and each of the finalists”—in Johnson’s case, his daughters—“did a presentation for the public,” Brent said.

After the presentation, the Public Arts Committee asked the public for their responses to the pieces by the three finalists.

“We left comment forms for the public in the library lobby for two weeks and got a couple hundred of those,” he said. “And so taking all of that into account, the committee voted in favor of the Bruce Johnson sculpture.”

“We particularly liked it because it has all of the design elements that you naturally associate with Bruce Johnson’s work: the ball hanging from a chain covered in copper and one log piercing another one,” Brent said.

“Koan” was submitted to the city for consideration by Johnson’s daughters, Tori and Kendra Johnson, who wrote a moving proposal that included this description of Johnson’s work:

Bruce Johnson lived and worked in Sonoma County for 50 years making abstract contemporary sculpture, before his life was cut short by a studio accident last March. His work is large-scale, dynamic, organic and enduring. His medium was massive, salvaged old-growth redwood, often clad or accented with copper.

“I am moved,’ he wrote, ‘by the mass and scale of primal salvaged stumps and root wads. My tools are chainsaw, crane and boom truck, along with a great variety of hand tools. I have learned to collaborate with wood to reveal its muscular gestures, and I use my tools to leave textures that enliven the surface. I often clad large outdoor pieces with copper to protect the wood from the elements while still honoring its organic form.”

According to the proposal, Johnson was a student of Zen Buddhism and was deeply inspired by Japanese art and architecture. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a koan is “a paradoxical anecdote or riddle, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to provoke enlightenment.”

An internationally known sculptor, Johnson’s work can be found in public spaces and private collections in Sonoma County, the U.S. and around the world.

The piece cost $25,000 and was paid for through the city’s “1% for Art” public art fee on commercial developments. An additional $6,000 from Public Works was budgeted for the preparation of the site, though Brent said the grading and ground prep came to less than that.

Brent said that the installation of “Koan” brings the Public Arts Committee one step closer to its goal of having what he called “an important sculpture at each entrance to the city.”

“The one on the front of the library by Michael McGinnis is the west entry, and the Ned Kahn piece that was recently installed near the bridge and adjacent to the Laguna is the east entry,” he said. “The Bruce Johnson piece is the south entry.”

Brent said that a sculpture for the north end of town will have to wait for the next big tranche of development fees to come through.

Since the County owns the land at the head of the Joe Rodota Trail, the project evolved into a collaboration between the city of Sebastopol and the County of Sonoma. When the Board of Supervisors approved the installation of “Koan” on county property, Fifth District Supervisor Lynda Hopkins gave this lovely paean to Johnson and his work:

“North Coast artist Bruce Johnson created bold, distinctly West County works of art, emphasizing salvaged old-growth redwood and metal, intertwining nature with industry. The community suffered a great loss when he passed away last year. I’m grateful to Bruce’s family for sharing Koan so that the public will be able to enjoy his art for many years to come. This art installation will become a special part of the trail’s entrance, and I want to thank the city for its leadership in making this project a reality.”

Brent said the Public Arts Committee is working with Johnson’s family to schedule an official opening event for the sculpture soon.

Learn more about Bruce Johnson’s work here.