Iconic sculpture returning to Mill Pond in Brighton this spring
BRIGHTON — He's been missing from the Mill Pond, but he'll be back this spring with a new bronze plaque.
"Decision Pending," a public art sculpture created by Detroit artist and veteran Jay Holland, was temporarily removed during streetscaping and stored at Brighton's Department of Public Services.
Officials will celebrate the sculpture's return to a revamped Mill Pond Park with a short unveiling at 10 a.m. June 8, while a series of other events are underway.
"The Main Street Mile," organized by Running Lab, will close Main Street from Grand River Avenue to Sixth Street from about 8:30-11:30 a.m. June 8 — and the Brighton Farmers' Market will move to St. Paul Street and Main Street that day. The Brighton Optimist Club's Fishing Derby for Kids will be held 8 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Mill Pond.
Patty Thomas, assistant to the DPS director, told The Daily the statue and plaque will be reinstalled sometime before the unveiling and temporarily covered.
"The real meaning of that sculpture is very meaningful," Mayor Kris Tobbe said during a Tuesday meeting of the Brighton City Council. "And so, to have that placard so that people can better understand it ... I think that's kind of an important element of that sculpture and will help to demystify some of the aspects of it."
More: Decision no longer pending. Iconic statue returning to Mill Pond Park
Holland made the sculpture to depict how he felt returning from the Korean War, where he was deployed from 1952 to 1953. He taught for 34 years at what's now the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
"He envisioned this work as a representation of someone walking with their head held high after putting their shattered life back together," Michelle Miller, the city's human resources director, previously told The Daily. "The figure's clenched fist and confident stance hint at the courage to continue after tragedy."
In the 2000s, the sculpture sparked some local debate.
Buddy Moorehouse, co-founder of The Livingston Post and former metro editor of the The Daily, previously told The Daily the newspaper received a flood of letters to the editor after the statue was installed in 2006. Ever since, Moorehouse has continually referred to it as "Ugly Naked Guy," a reference to the popular sitcom "Friends."
According to a story following his death in 2016, a bemused Holland once told The Detroit Free Press he thought the controversy was "silly," adding: "It would be very pretentious of me to get outraged about it."
— Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Iconic sculpture returning to Mill Pond in Brighton this spring
