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Landmark Highway 1 bridge rendered on new stamp
The news, announced this week by the U. S. Postal Service, caught some Big Sur residents by surprise. Several, including Toby Rowland-Jones, expressed disappointment an image by a Big Sur artist wasn’t considered for the stamp.
Sparsely populated Big Sur is home to a thriving community of painters, sculptors and photographers. "What I would love to know is why on earth, given the plethora of amazingly gifted artists we have in Big Sur, that no one here was asked to do this stamp?" Rowland-Jones asked. "Yes, it’s nice that this lovely structure is recognized nationally, but our local artists need to be recognized, appreciated and invited".
Others were simply thrilled to see one of their local landmarks honored with a stamp. "I certainly understand the desire to have local artists involved in depictions of Big Sur landmarks", Tzila Duenzl said. "I myself have felt intensely possessive of the coast at times. But I feel compelled to point out that Big Sur’s grandeur is enjoyed and appreciated by tens of thousands and maybe millions of people from around the world, and many "outsider" artists are inspired by it as deeply as local artists are. We shouldn’t forget that no one "owns" that grandeur and inspiration. It belongs to all who are moved by it".
Aside from any local controversy, postal service officials decided Bixby Bridge would make a great subject for a stamp, especially since the agency was planning a series of stamps depicting landmark bridges. "In the past few years we’ve been selecting bridges from across the nation that reflect classic, as well as contemporary architectural design styles", explained Terry McCaffery, a spokesman for the postal service. "Bixby Bridge is one of those classic styles".
Contrary to the speculation of some locals, the stamp’s artist - noted illustrator and Clarendon Hills, Ill., resident Dan Cosgrove - was contacted by the postal service, and not vice versa.
"As with the majority of stamps, the art is commissioned by the postal service", McCaffrey explained. "Stamp design is a very exacting process which requires the artist to be able to have his or her work reproduced at such a small scale and still be readable. [Dan] has done a number of other stamps in the same illustration style for us. We first contacted him because his style reminds of us the classic travel posters, which work well as stamps".
In 2008, Cosgrove designed images that were used on stamps depicting Hoover Dam and Mount Rushmore. In addition to this year’s Bixby Bridge stamp, the postal service is also releasing a stamp that uses an image he created of Mackinaw Island, Mich.
Located on Highway 1 and about 13 miles south of Carmel, Bixby Bridge is 714 feet long and rises 260 feet above Bixby Creek. The concrete bridge was named after the homesteading Bixby family, which settled nearby in the late 19th century.
By CHRIS COUNTS
ONE OF Big Sur’s most famous landmarks is coming soon to a post office near you. Bixby Bridge - celebrated as one of the greatest engineering feats in history when it was completed in 1932 - will be featured on a new U.S. postage stamp, which will go on sale Feb. 3.The news, announced this week by the U. S. Postal Service, caught some Big Sur residents by surprise. Several, including Toby Rowland-Jones, expressed disappointment an image by a Big Sur artist wasn’t considered for the stamp.
Sparsely populated Big Sur is home to a thriving community of painters, sculptors and photographers. "What I would love to know is why on earth, given the plethora of amazingly gifted artists we have in Big Sur, that no one here was asked to do this stamp?" Rowland-Jones asked. "Yes, it’s nice that this lovely structure is recognized nationally, but our local artists need to be recognized, appreciated and invited".
Others were simply thrilled to see one of their local landmarks honored with a stamp. "I certainly understand the desire to have local artists involved in depictions of Big Sur landmarks", Tzila Duenzl said. "I myself have felt intensely possessive of the coast at times. But I feel compelled to point out that Big Sur’s grandeur is enjoyed and appreciated by tens of thousands and maybe millions of people from around the world, and many "outsider" artists are inspired by it as deeply as local artists are. We shouldn’t forget that no one "owns" that grandeur and inspiration. It belongs to all who are moved by it".
Aside from any local controversy, postal service officials decided Bixby Bridge would make a great subject for a stamp, especially since the agency was planning a series of stamps depicting landmark bridges. "In the past few years we’ve been selecting bridges from across the nation that reflect classic, as well as contemporary architectural design styles", explained Terry McCaffery, a spokesman for the postal service. "Bixby Bridge is one of those classic styles".
Contrary to the speculation of some locals, the stamp’s artist - noted illustrator and Clarendon Hills, Ill., resident Dan Cosgrove - was contacted by the postal service, and not vice versa.
"As with the majority of stamps, the art is commissioned by the postal service", McCaffrey explained. "Stamp design is a very exacting process which requires the artist to be able to have his or her work reproduced at such a small scale and still be readable. [Dan] has done a number of other stamps in the same illustration style for us. We first contacted him because his style reminds of us the classic travel posters, which work well as stamps".
In 2008, Cosgrove designed images that were used on stamps depicting Hoover Dam and Mount Rushmore. In addition to this year’s Bixby Bridge stamp, the postal service is also releasing a stamp that uses an image he created of Mackinaw Island, Mich.
Located on Highway 1 and about 13 miles south of Carmel, Bixby Bridge is 714 feet long and rises 260 feet above Bixby Creek. The concrete bridge was named after the homesteading Bixby family, which settled nearby in the late 19th century.
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