Spirit Gate - San Jose, CA
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 37° 20.024 W 121° 54.866
10S E 596167 N 4132448
This sculpture is also a gate to the Downtown College Prep School in San Jose.
Waymark Code: WMEBY0
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 05/04/2012
Views: 2
This sculpture is entitled "Spirit Gate" and looks as if it were made from two large elephant tusks with a metal circular center serving as the gates. The gates have stenciled words punched out from them such as "SCHOOL", "FAMILY" "INSPIRE", etc. The "tusks" are not really tusks but made from stucco and have mosaics designs on them.
The nearby plaque informs us:
"'SPIRIT GATE
2000
Artists: Bill Gould and Glen Rogers
In collaboration with students and teachers
from Hester Elementary School
A project of the San Jose Ars Commission
and the San Jose Unified School District"
This website (
visit link) has additional photos and informs us:
"Spirit Gate
Former Hester Elementary Site | San Jose, CA
• Completed in 2000
• Bill Gould & Glen Rogers
• Fabrication & Installation by Lizard Skin Studios and Brian’s Welding
• Funded by a Public Art in Communities Grant by the San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs
Description: Gould and Rogers were awarded a Public Art in Communities Grant by the San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs for Spirit Gate as a result of an open competition. Rogers worked with students to choose “power words” that are cut into the eight-foot circular steel gate. Two stucco columns embedded with bands of broken tile mosaic create an asymmetrical balance to this structure. The elementary students drew colorful images of orchards and farming; while the Lincoln High School students then helped the younger students translate the drawings into the final mosaics based on local history. “Spirit Gate, a celebration of life and learning, is a ceremonial gateway that serves to bridge Hester School and its community. Located at the front entrance of the school on the Alameda, it has become a new landmark for San Jose.” —Sunset Magazine"