Bay Meadows

Mirrors, reflections and more are making their way into the fabric of our home town of San Mateo. First with Mirror Labyrinth New York for California that graces Bay Meadows’ Town Square and now “Reflections”, a 4,200-pound, 30-foot tall stainless steel sculpture recently made its debut near downtown at the corner of East Third Avenue and South Humboldt Street, welcoming people into San Mateo. The artwork is large enough to be seen both by vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

“I really think that public art … gives us a sense of uniqueness,” Mayor Diane Papan said, reported SMDailyJournal. “It really shows what our aspirations are, and what our dreams are and what we think of community.”

“Reflections” is the first publicly commissioned sculpture as part of our Art in Public Places Program and was made in stainless steel by artist CJ Rench.

“With rounded shapes symbolic of a horseshoe, wind on the Bay and an acorn of the people native to the land, among other images, affixed to a circular frame, the public art piece dubbed “Reflections” is aimed at helping viewers envision the city’s past and present, explained Oregon-based artist CJ Rench.” – SMDailyJournal

To design the sculpture, he said he drew shapes as he was learning about the city’s history and used those images to form plans for art piece, which he said was shipped in three pieces from Oregon and welded together in San Mateo.

The location was chosen as it is a gateway into San Mateo and the design is representative of San Mateo’s past and future. Backgrounded by large redwood trees and adjacency to the creek.

Chris Massey, who served on the city’s Civic Arts Committee when the piece was recommended to the City Council in 2014, was also gratified to see the piece in person after having followed its progress over the years.

“It’s very gratifying to see after all this time,” he told SMDailyJournal. “I think it’s going to grace the city for many years to come.”

The new artwork is comprised of components representing our past, present and future. It’s near Downtown San Mateo at Third & Humboldt. Come take a look and see if you can pick out the pieces that represent sailboats, horseshoes, our native ancestors, trees and more.

Featuring best-in-class retailers such as Tin Pot Creamery, Blue Bottle Coffee and ROAM Artisan Burgers, Bay Meadows’ Town Square is the ideal gathering place with more ground-floor retail, outdoor dining and pop-ups to come. Home to a stunning sculpture from internationally-renowned artist Jeppe Hein, the Town Square is the dynamic core of our Midurban village. The Town Square is the perfect place to relax outside for a beer or wine at Fieldwork Brewing Company’s Beer Garden after a day of shopping and entertainment at Hillsdale Center. Take a turn on the porch swings or challenge a friend to table-tennis in the outdoor ping-pong court. Join the Bay Meadows email list to stay on top of the latest.