Urban Family

At first glance Archie Held’s bronze sculpture appears to be a cluster of graceful, undulating forms. But Held sees this piece as an abstraction of people, an Urban Family, as he named it. About his work, Held says: “To me it’s figurative, an evocation of a community, and the family is the building block of the community”. Trained at UCLA, Held maintains a studio in Richmond where a small crew fabricates his bronze and stainless steel sculptures.

Every surface of this bronze sculpture was textured by hand—a very arduous process. The textures vary from side to side, creating different plays of light. Like many Held sculptures, Urban Family has a thin skin of water running over the surface.

The water brings the piece alive with quiet, subtle movement. Held’s sculptures can be found across the country and overseas. You can find some of his other pieces in the Napa Valley at Auberge du Soleil and several wineries, as well as at Bishop Ranch in San Ramon and Merrill Gardens in Lafayette.

Source: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=292a6293be0344d2bcd81ab75cd60e80