Man on the Street Series by J. Seward Johnson Jr.

Carmel, Indiana is a posh New Urbanist community located just north of Indianapolis. If you know me, you know that’s not necessarily the kind of place where I might find myself, although I recently did on a rainy Saturday afternoon, where I stumbled on a few public sculptures from the Man on the Street series by J. Seward Johnson Jr..

Okay, it was a bit odd and funny to find downtown almost deserted because of the rain, yet populated by these “people” out and about, covered in raindrops. Where’s your umbrella, lady? Your paper shopping bag is soaked! I figure I should share these photos rather than wait to retake them, which probably won’t happen anytime soon.

Above and below, Holding Out, located in front of Joe’s Fish Market:

The Right Light depicts a plein air painter:

Ambassador of the Streets — would that be the yap-yap dog or the lady who lunches?

Sidewalk Concert — a busker in front of a music shop:

There, Now You Can Grow:

By the way, the two women are wearing actual knitted scarves, which I assume to be an instance of yarnb-bombing, a type of temporary intervention that’s become popular in recent years.

I first came across the work of J. Seward Johnson Jr. in White Plains, a small city just north of NYC, where his First Case enlivens an otherwise bleak office building entrance. By contrast, the Carmel series [there are several more than pictured here] is situated throughout a downtown that I’m pretty sure is usually fairly bustling. I wish I’d had a chance to explore this area, and the public sculptures, on a nicer day — maybe a return visit is in the cards after all.