Because every town needs a park, a library and a newspaper
Carbondale’s weekly
community connector
Volume 10, Number 33 | September 20, 2018
Bear sighting at Delaney Nature Park Photo by Jane Bachrach Text by Megan Tackett Not all bears are prepping for hibernation — we found at least one that’s standing on stilts. All the better to take in the view, and add to it, at Delaney Nature Park. “Better View Than Me” is the newest sculpture installation in Carbondale, and it barely happened. Local artist Just Emerson — the paperwork that legally changed the pun enthusiast’s name only finalized last week — knew he wanted the mostly steel and stainless steel sculpture to call the park home, but he had a bear of a time making it a reality. “I had trouble finding out who owned the property,” Emerson laughed. “I called the arts committee; they didn’t know. I went to the building department and asked if they might know. They got back to me a couple weeks later: it’s some company in California that had bought the property. I got in touch, and then I had to find out who was in charge locally of the land.” Eventually, though, he made contact and pitched his idea for the installation. “[The local property manager] said immediately, ‘Yeah sure, go ahead.’ He didn’t even want to know what it was. I put it up that day.”