Pearl sculpture for Oyster Bay

Pearl sculpture for Oyster Bay


Two years ago, sculptor Jerelyn Hanrahan had a strand of an idea: to create a community pearl, literally and figuratively, for Oyster Bay.

She stood at a work site last week, having nearly reached her goal. Twenty-one cement spheres, some nearly a half-ton and three feet tall, will form one of the more ambitious public art projects in the town -- a 40-foot "string of pearls," doubling as benches, along the beach at Theodore Roosevelt Park. Installation is expected in time for the annual Oyster Festival Saturday and Sunday.

"This belongs in Oyster Bay," said Hanrahan, who runs Atelier Fine Arts Studio on East Main Street in Oyster Bay hamlet. "The art world is a little insular. Here you reach a broader audience."

Each sphere is being finished with pearl paint, to be linked with a chain to create an oversized necklace. The pearls, weighing 200 to 850 pounds, will be trucked to the park Tuesday and secured in a figure-eight formation.

The Town of Oyster Bay has agreed to display the project through Nov. 1, spokesman Brian Devine said. Finding a location was difficult because of park renovations, he said.

"But we thought it was an interesting project that would sync up pretty well with Oyster Fest," Devine said. "It becomes one of those destinations. It's not every day you see a 40-foot string of pearls."

If the project, titled "Graduated Pearls," must move in November, Hanrahan said she'll sell it to a commercial broker, perhaps for display in an office lobby or shopping mall.

See photo and read more about Pearl sculpture for Oyster Bay

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Pearls as Design.

Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.