Exploring Brighton's Sculpture: 'Sie Sind Hier'

Last week, we took a quick look at Sergio Giusti’s relief piece Emergence, which hangs in the lobby of .

This week, we’re heading back outside and toward Main Street to view Sie Sind Hier (You Are Here), a work by Brighton resident John Sauvé.

Like much of Sauvé’s work, Sie Sind Hier features the silhouette of a man wearing a suit and fedora. A thick red post holds this particular figure aloft.

Sie Sind Hier is likely familiar to anyone who’s been downtown. Perched between and , it marks the entrance to the brick-lined walkway between Main Street and Millpond Lane.  

Twelve feet tall and 7 feet wide, the armor plate and steel sculpture also serves as a roadblock to drivers who might think to turn into the corridor.

In addition to conceiving and organizing the Brighton Biennial Sculpture Exhibit, Sauvé served as its first curator. Serious about public art, Sauvé also runs the Sauvé Art Foundation with the aim of enriching communities throughout the U.S.

Sauvé has seen a difference in Brighton since the first pieces of public art were installed in 2006. “Pre-Brighton Biennial, the downtown stores would close at 5 p.m.,” he said.

Business owners have seen a difference and are now staying open later to accommodate Brighton’s residents and visitors, he added.

Including Sie Sind Hier, which can be purchased for $3,000, Sauvé has three works in the Brighton Biennial Sculpture Exhibit.