Palo Alto Mayor Sid Espinosa and other local cyclists will commemorate the life of cycling advocate Bill Bliss at 10:30 a.m. Friday (April 22) at the official dedication of the sculpture created in his memory along the San Francisco Bay Trail.
The stainless-steel cycling sculpture was created by artist James Moore and installed in the Palo Alto Baylands in January, Public Art Commission liaison Elise DeMarzo stated in a press release.
Independently funded, the sculpture was requested by the art commission after it was approached by members of the Bliss family and representatives of the San Francisco Bay Trail.
Bliss, who died in 2005, advocated for the scenic, 500-mile bike trail that is planned to encircle the San Francisco and San Pablo bays. So far, 310 miles of the route have been completed.
“I decided to sculpt a cyclist with one foot planted firmly on the ground while gazing at the sunrise to convey hope for the future combined with dedicated action in the present,” said Moore, whose piece sits along the trail off of East Bayshore Road, between Embarcadero and San Antonio roads.
“I believe Mr. Bliss personified this wholeheartedly during his life,” Moore said.
The dedication ceremony will be attended by representatives of the Bliss family, the San Francisco Bay Trail and the Palo Alto Public Art Commission, and the general public is invited.
Espinosa will bike to the event, with other attendees invited to do the same. In honor of Earth Day, the city is encouraging cyclists to use reusable water bottles.
This is a beautiful statue. Thank you to all the private donors that contributed to this statue and to the Palo Alto Public Art Commission for let them install it in our city.
The Mayor and Dr. Skelly will be bicycling to schools all over the city this week to participate in Earth Day celebrations. They will ride in a student designed and built solar electric car at JLS, and interact with new energy efficient technologies demonstrated at El Carmelo, a tree planting at Terman…and much more. I hope the Weekly will give some good coverage to our amazing students who increasingly are opting for bikes instead of cars for their school commutes. The numbers of bicyclists at our secondary school sites are really astounding!
Our kids are leading the way. Let’s all take a page from their book.
A lovely piece of art, appropriate for the site, commemorating a life and paid for without public dollars. Something to be considered for the rest of the City!
cool sculpt
we need more art out there