LYNWOOD — The month of July has been a good one for the senior community in the city, with the grand opening of the first senior housing development in the city’s history a few weeks ago, and the unveiling last weekend of the Lynwood Senior Center’s first Art in Public Places pieces — three to be exact.

Two large sculpted wall pieces are currently in the works to be displayed in the courtyard at the new senior housing development on Atlantic Boulevard. And last Saturday the city showcased three new art acquisitions for the Lynwood Senior Center.

“This has been a terrific month for the city,” City Councilman Jim Morton said Wednesday. “Many, many years ago, seniors in our city weren’t recognized as members of the community, but they are quite significant. Our seniors are our history, they are Lynwood’s history, they made Lynwood what it is today, so it is our job as leaders to make sure senior citizens are treated with the utmost respect.”

Plus, Morton said, seniors citizens in Lynwood deserve everything senior citizens in other cities have.

Morton — a 50-year resident of the city — has always pushed for senior programs, whether it was the development of the Lynwood Senior Center, the long battle for the senior housing development or advocating for smaller scale services such as taxi vouchers.

He said helping unveil the bronze statue for seniors was one of the best rewards ever.

“You could see the appreciation in their faces,” Morton said. “I was there, when the council picked the statues for our city. I immediately related to this statue [Man on the Bench], I thought that’s me, reading a newspaper on a bench. It said to me, this is a man who wants to sit in a quiet place and read his newspaper.”

In May 2006 the City Council adopted the city’s Art In Public Places Program. The program provides permanent, outdoor and indoor artwork accessible to the general public throughout the city, and features a wide range of mediums, styles, and approaches by local, national and internationally renowned artists.

Talks of a fountain or similar art work for the Senior Center took place sometime in 2006-07, but due to costs and a lack of interest it never came to fruition.

Morton said he was told by seniors Saturday that they are still interested in acquiring a fountain for the Senior Center, but it’s something he will have to propose to the rest of his colleagues on the council first, he said.

“One thing I love about my community is that people don’t have a lot, but they have pride in their community,” he said. “I’ve lived here for a long, long time, and it’s always been that way. That’s why I love my community.”

The new art pieces at the Lynwood Senior Center include two paintings by local artist Cliaxto Shibaja, and the bronze statue titled, “Man on the Bench,” one of seven statues that will be located throughout the city over the next year. The total cost for the seven statues is $25,631 — funds derived from the Art In Public Places Program.

“Man On the Bench” has been permanently installed for public viewing on the front lawn of the Lynwood Senior Center.

The remaining bronze statues in the series will be installed inside Lynwood City Park, the Natatorium Swim Complex, the Burke-Ham Park and the Lynwood Skate Park.

The bronze pieces are life-like sculptures that depict sports activities and include such figurines as a baseball catcher, pitcher and batter, a soccer player, three little girls dancing, children on a park slide and a skater.

The Recreation and Community Services Department is currently working with local artists to develop artwork to help beautify the city’s curbside utility boxes by providing artwork depicting “youth at play” and “Lynwood family life.”

“From all the comments that I received on Saturday, people were extremely proud that we have some public art, not only for the seniors in the area, but I think it puts the city in a different light,” City Manager Roger Haley said. “I think they felt that the city really elevated itself to a different level by having public art.”

The City Council, Haley said, wanted to provide the community with this type of program for a long time, so “I think they are particularly proud, as well.”
Next in line is the unveiling of some very special public art near the soccer fields at Lynwood Park on Aug. 29.

“All of the statues are life-size. … It’s just something that we are trying to do, that the City Council is really trying to do, to really uplift the community. … As far as I have seen, this Council has put forward some good policy in terms of trying to make this program as meaningful as possible,” Haley said.