Three months ago, Sally Marbry conceived the idea to transform a utilitarian electrical box in front of the Greyhound station in downtown Redding into a piece of public art. The 18-part “Art and Life at the Greyhound Sation” series is a chronicle of her work and her observations of life on the corner of Pine and Butte. These are her final thoughts on the project.
Done Deal
September 11 Busy Friday. Lots of people looking now.
Two young guys make friends and talk about where they are going. Indian Joe drops in and out and a young Italian girl chats about doing art. I see the Barber across the way in and out of my periphery. A young Chinese traveler takes a photo of me as I paint the front labels.
I feel guilty about not putting a Wisconsin label on the trunk for my group o’ guys, so I paint the word “Wisconsin” in one of the wood swirls. A “Where’s Waldo?”-type gesture.
A guy sits and chats off and on. He has seizures and can’t work anymore as an electrician.
September 12 A Woman stops by in her car to say “good work.” Two older women observe the process, and a young guy comes over and we talk about horseracing. He buys racehorses and we share our love of the tracks.
Quiet, hot and muggy. Tonight is ArtHop and I am going to be hanging out, hoping people will come by to look.
I see Manager Tony and go over and hug him and thank him for his invisible support. The trunk is almost done. Need to finish the The Sundial Bridge label and seal the trunk before the rain.
September 13 Mother with two kids waits for the depot to open. She saw me when I first started taping off the wood parts. She is totally amazed.
A young kid, maybe a photography student, takes my picture and practices taking a close-up of the Queen Mary label. I explain about the history of steamer trunks. A woman wishes she had a trunk like this at home. I say there are still old steamer trunks out there that you can buy.
Indian Joe comes by and is guarding against panhandlers today. He wears a t-shirt with American Indian imagery. A group of big rough tough-guy travelers can’t believe that it is not a trunk. They love it. They all wear logging shirts.
Dusty comes by with his friend who looks like Zorba the Greek. They admire it and Dusty asks for money. He is the only one I have ever given money to. I weaken and rummage in my purse. I hope Indian Joe does not see me perpetuate panhandling. We talk about music and share who we have seen in concert. Dusty saw The Who, Zorba saw the Beatles and I have seen The Stones.
Quiet rest of the day. I almost finish the last label and am interrupted by a guy who springs out of his truck to hand me two tickets for the Asphalt Cowboy BBQ in Redding Park today. Wow. What a gift. I close shop and call my husband to tell him that lunch is on me. Perfect timing on the day I finish. Tomorrow I just need to tweak the front labels before I seal that side.
I will miss them all when I am done here: Indian Joe, Dave, The Barber, Maverick, Dusty, Manager Tony and all the peripherals like Weaving Bum and Bottle Man. I really need to ask the group o’ guys who they are and where they go each day. Maybe I will lurk around the Greyhound and strike up conversations from time to time.
Click here to find all the Greyhound Chronicles.
Sally Marbry has shared her fine art, ceramics and sculpture skills as a teacher, product designer and interior designer. For the past year, Sally has been the host and writer of “Home Zone,” weekly on KLXR. She also chairs Viva Downtown Redding’s Design Committee, which spearheaded the public art and street beautification project. Reach Sally at Earth2Sal@charter.net.
