The Bill Soberane's Monument
Analysis:
The monument is a bronze sculpture capturing the bulging biceps,pertruding veins that symbolize the teamwork and partnership between Bill Soberane and his business partner Dave Devoto. Bill was the founder of Petaluma's Worl Wrestling Championships, witch put both th sport and the town on the map. For 59 years Soberanes was newspaper columnist for the "Petlauma Argus-courier" which also gave hi mthe edge to open up the sport to the community and to the neighboring towns, which then quickly spread throughout the county, then state, and soon enough the world. The first Petaluman wrist-wrestling match was held in Gilardi's Bar in the early 1950's with Oliver Kolberg defeating Jack Homer. Soon enough the win and the boasting spread state and worldwide and the the first World Wrestling Championship happened in 1962.
This monument is found on a very busy main road in Petaluma, CA. It is specifically found at the corner of East Washington St. and Petaluma Blvd North. Hundreds to thousands of cars drive by this piece everyday while everyone is on their way to dropping of their kids at school, on their way to and from work and even running errands, Personally i have passed this statue numerous times, so many times i wouldnt be able to count, but i realized what history i was simply missing and overlooking, how one simple and yet humble man from a small and humbling town was able to create such an impact in history and even the world through just his passion for a sport and life choice. It makes you think about how long you have lived in a town and although you begin to believe that you have seen everything from one end to the other, you are still missing so much and have yet to learn where you really were raised and have come from.
Intervention/Alteration:
As i began to look at this piece numerous things began to pop in my head about what to alter and change and some changes didn't even have to do with the significance of one many changing the world through a hobby/sport or passion instead it got me to think about my "small" and "humbling" town and how even though its only 45 minutes away from a fast paced, "hustle-bustle" city, the people in this town are so naive and inexperienced to the ways of people unlike themselves. What Im getting at are the simplicity of the people in my town, how they cant even talk about "gays", "homosexuals", "lesbians" to bring up the topic was basically something "ungodly". The kids that i grew up with were predominately white and were either hicks or skater kids or punks, and thats it!!. And it wasnt until this year and these past few months that a few of my close friends from high school have 'come out' and opened up to me and our group of friends about being wither bisexual or homosexual! 7 years after the beginning of our friendship!!! its insane to think about how your closest friends were still scared and timid to trust the people they were surrounded by, but i dont blame them because to take on such a load in such a small and closed minded town, let alone a small and close minded Catholic High School would be a lot to take on and ask yourself a lot for.
1. So to lead to my first altercation I saw not two men grasping fists and leaning to take the other one down; i saw two men leaning in and kissing while carressing each others faces. and strong statement below empowering and demanding people to expand their horizons and learn from the people around them and to accept them in any way shape or form.
2. the second alteration were the two men holding a globe between there hands symbolizing how a a leadership and a partnership allowed them to take on and conquer the world.
3. The third alteration was the two men grasping 3 flags ; one flag with the city emblem, the second being a rainbow flag, and the third being a flag of the globe.
