Watertown's Public Square art project begins to take shape | Arts and Entertainment

“Hey, what’s going on here?” she yelled to him.

“I dropped my keys,” joked Mr. Grieco, a Los Angeles-based artist whose sculpture design was chosen for a public art project funded by the city’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative program.

In recent days, Mr. Grieco, a Watertown native who works and lives in Los Angeles, and two high school friends have been working on the foundation for his sculpture that will be prominently displayed in the middle of downtown.

The $135,000 project is part of the city’s $10 million DRI awarded in 2017.

The main component of the piece is a stainless steel sculpture in the shape of an open book that sits atop a limestone base.

The book’s pages represent the city’s history and founders, nature, snow, the Black River, fish and Watertown’s city limits. It will include symbols of the First Baptist Church, Hotel Woodruff, Flower Memorial Library and the Mill Street bridge.

For the past three weeks, he’s been in the north country to get ready for the sculpture’s unveiling next summer.

Mrs. Rutledge learned about the piece during a 20-minute conversation that ensued between her and the artist.

He described the piece to her, talked about his family’s connection to Watertown and his days in school at General Brown.

She talked about her love of history and how she likes to meet and talk to people during her travels from her Flower Avenue West home because she’s “nosy.” She knew his family. Mr. Grieco’s grandmother owned a downtown hat shop and his grandfather was involved in county politics and ran Grieco’s Brass Rail restaurant on Arsenal Street. “God bless what you’re doing,” she said. “I’m glad to hear you’re doing this. And God bless your family and what they’ve done here.”

Two longtime friends, brothers Justin and Jake Hall, are helping him construct the foundation in that hole. Some 18,000 pounds of concrete will be poured into the box base.

The cement will be cured over the winter while he’s in Los Angeles working on the sculpture itself. Last week, he doubted the foundation work would begin when it rained every day. But the sun came out this week and they made great headway.

The public art project “is right on schedule,” said Jennifer Voss, the senior city planner who’s overseeing the project for the city.

“We’re really excited to see it’s starting,” she said.

The three-ton piece is so massive he cannot work on it in his studio. He rented space from his developer friends, Yuval Barzemen and Paul Solomon, who were instrumental in creating the Los Angeles art district.

It’ll be a long process over the winter that includes carving foam, piecing the mold together and welding. A smaller replica has already been made that will help him create the actual piece, he said.

The completed sculpture will be trucked from California to Watertown and placed on its base.

He plans to create a cobblestone walkway that leads to the piece in the square, but hasn’t been able to find any stones. He’s asking for help from the community.

The entire creative process will be made into a documentary. A local film crew, Fly By Night, was filming the work on Tuesday. Another crew is filming the process in California.

He’s planning “a big party” in Public Square for his unveiling.

Over the past 20 years, Mr. Grieco has become an accomplished sculptor in southern California and has traveled the world doing what he loves.

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Nyakio, an entrepreneur who owns a facial skin care company, Thirteen Lune, and their two children, Lulu, 16, and Rocco, 11, both budding artists.

His brother, Richard J. Grieco Jr., starred in the Fox TV hit series “21 Jump Street” with Johnny Depp.