Old farm bell has new home
A new piece of sculpture now stands in front of the Harris Arts Center in downtown Calhoun.
An old farm bell is mounted atop an ornamental, tree-like post crafted by metal artist Mark Baker of Sandy Springs. A gift of the Williams family, it took its place Monday in the Joanne Owens Sculpture Garden, where it can be admired by visitors to the Harris Arts Center and passers-by on Wall Street.
For years the bell had been on the farm of Boland and Gail Williams. Boland’s sister, Retha Williams, recently had it refurbished and mounted on the post, designed as a vine-entwined tree trunk, as a gift to Boland.
When the Williamses decided to sell the farm and move into town, they sought an appropriate home for the bell. After consulting with friends, they approached the Visual Arts Guild of the Calhoun Gordon Arts Council, asking if they would be interested in the historic bell for the Harris Arts Center’s front garden. The Guild saw it as an appropriate way to begin the rehabilitation of the Center’s Joanne Owens Sculpture Garden, where sculpture had been absent since pieces on loan were removed several years ago.
An inscription mounted on the post reads: “This size 4 cast iron farm bell was manufactured in 1921 by the Ross Meehan Foundry in Chattanooga, TN. It was found in a chicken house and salvaged by Leonard “Red” Williams. Before 1959, he adapted it as an outdoor light fixture for his new home on the Coosawattee River. In 2021, metal artist Mark Baker restored it to its original function and incorporated
it in this piece honoring the lives of two men devoted to this land: Leonard Lee Williams (1906-1959) and his son Boland Emmet Williams (b. 1939).”
Now plans are underway to add more sculpture to the garden, dedicated to the memory of the late Joanne Owens, a founder of and inspiration for the Harris Arts Center, operated by the Calhoun Gordon Arts Council, at 212 South Wall Street in Calhoun.