Published on June 17, 2021
Saturday June 19
Pollocksville will receive a gift from the Jones Senior High School's National Arts Honor Society. Students have recreated the classic painting: A Sunday On La Grande Jatte – 1884, along with three other paintings that will be presented and mounted around Jones County.
Pollocksville is privileged to receive this gift. And has decided to mount it on Main Street, on the historic Armstrong Grocery facing Pollock St. This is the very first piece of Public Art to be installed Downtown since Hurricane Florence, marking a reinvestment from the youth in conjunction with the Jones County Art Council!
Art History
The riverside scene in A Sunday On La Grande Jatte – 1884 is perfectly suitable for Pollocksville. Created by George Seurat over two years to depict the Island of Grand Jatte, at the gates to Paris on the River Seine. The land had previously been a site for industry, but by 1884 had been converted into a Public Garden and Housing Development, to which Parisians could escape for reprieve from the ills of the City. Similarly, Pollocksville has been the countryside retreat from the nearby city of New Bern since its incorporation in 1849.
Seurat studied the latest science in lighting techniques, using a technique called Pointilism (making forms out of lots of little dots) and rebelled against traditional art styles, ushering in Neo-Impressionism. This style is supposed to have dramatic impacts on light and color. Visit the intersection of Main Street and Pollock Street to see for yourself!
One thing is for sure, the painting is timely, for the Riverside Park is receiving lots of meticulous study from landscape architects as the Town seeks to bring Nature and Society into Harmony as we recover from the devastating effects of flooding!