In Monroe, residents do double takes when meeting new ‘neighbors’

MONROE — The new neighbors are causing quite the stir.

The hot dog vendor, the police officer, the women conversing on a park bench, the man hailing a cab and other new downtown arrivals have, amid some naysayers, captivated residents and charmed visitors.

“It adds a uniqueness to the town,” said Connie Brand, a four-year resident of Monroe. Enjoying a recent dinner across the street from the hot dog vendor, Brand said she and a friend have been getting to know the new neighbors.

“We walked around and looked at all of them,” she said.

That’s easier than it might seem — and not at all creepy — because the new neighbors are bronze sculptures.

The life-size sculptures also are sufficiently lifelike to prompt double takes from pedestrians, and, according to locals, cause some motorists to hit their brakes.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Part of the city’s commitment to downtown public art, the sculptures are from the Seward Johnson Atelier in New Jersey and will be on display for the next 12 months.

Johnson died in 2020. According to the atelier’s website, Johnson’s “sculptures come alive when the community engages with them.”

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Monroe, the seat of Walton County with a population of about 15,000, allocated $33,000 in hotel-motel taxes to bring in eight sculptures. The Eulalia Group, a real estate company downtown, is funding two additional sculptures.

For Brand, who visited family in Monroe for years before moving here, the sculptures are evidence of the city’s commitment to “making it wonderful” downtown.

“It used to be all run down,” she said. “It wasn’t a place that people liked to come, but now … .”

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Nikki and Kevin Baker, enjoying a recent afternoon downtown with their young son, Lukas, have just started noticing the sculptures.

“I’m liking how they’re finally incorporating art into Monroe,” Nikki said.

A lifelong resident, she credits the sculptures, other downtown art and a proliferation of locally owned restaurants, shops and businesses, with helping to make downtown what it was in her younger years, a place where people want to linger.

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“They’re finally depicting what Monroe really is,” she said.

The Johnson sculptures are just the latest addition to downtown public art. Murals adorn alleyways. There’s a sculpture garden. Decommissioned fire hydrants arrayed in Childers Park feature whimsical paint jobs. Even some dumpsters are painted.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

A few blocks away, Brennan Myers was spending time downtown with his two daughters, 11-year-old Alexa and 8-year-old Brynnley. The family, in town from Indiana to visit the girls’ grandmother, initially thought — like many others at first glance — the sculptures were real people.

After settling on an immediate favorite — “The hot dog one,” both girls said — Myers’ daughters were on the hunt for the other sculptures.

“They want to find all of them,” their dad said.

Those not charmed are confined largely to social media. There is, for instance, some online concern that the police officer at the corner of Spring and Broad streets might cause an accident as wary motorists pump their brakes, or that the cab-hailing man on Broad Street might be mistaken for someone about to dart into the street.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

There is also some fretting about spending public money on a temporary artistic addition to the city. Local officials note hotel-motel taxes are collected from people staying in city lodgings, and proceeds must be used for tourism-related projects.

“If we can find a way to bring art and culture to downtown in a way that will encourage others to enjoy themselves and to visit,” Mayor John Howard said, “that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

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A little farther down the sidewalk, Pam Hull and her 21-year-old daughter, Olivia, were visiting Monroe from nearby Good Hope.

“I think they’re awesome,” Pam Hull said of the sculptures. “Downtown Monroe is already charming, and they add a bit more charm.”