On the morning of Thursday, October 15, a driver slowed his black SUV on Bayard Street to watch a bronze man being lowered onto the City Hall lawn. The figure was eating a hamburger and reading a book about fishing. "Will you look at that," the driver said, as TAPinto New Brunswick reported. "You should put some chairs beside him so others can sit down and read, too."
That sculpture, "Out to Lunch," isn't going back to Hamilton when the weather turns. Since New Brunswick started borrowing Seward Johnson sculptures about five years ago, the figures have arrived for spring and summer and then left. "Out to Lunch" belongs to the city now. So from now until November 30, downtown has two kinds of Johnson figures on its sidewalks. Some are on loan and leaving soon, and some are staying for good. After the 30th, December won't look like past Decembers on George Street.
The five that arrived on October 15
The city is buying 15 sculptures from the Seward Johnson Atelier in Hamilton, using part of a $5.7 million grant it received from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in February 2025. They're being installed in four waves, and these five came first:
- "Out to Lunch" sits on the grass at 78 Bayard Street. Lynn DeClemente Losavio, executive director of the Seward Johnson Artist Foundation, told TAPinto that Johnson meant this patinated bronze as a self-portrait.
- "Strolling Professor" stands on the sidewalk near the corner of Bayard Street and Elm Row, reading a chemistry book. TAPinto reported that a nearby business owner walked out as it was set down and asked how he could get a sculpture in front of his own shop.
- "Autin's Advanced Artistic Awakening"
- "Skateboarder"
- "A Memorable Date"
Longtime downtown walkers may recognize some of these from the loan years. In 2023, a strolling professor stood at 75 Bayard Street and a skateboarder stood near Hub City Brew House at 335 George Street, according to a city release that May. In 2024, TAPinto placed "Autin's Advanced Artistic Awakening" near the flagpole outside the Middlesex County Courthouse. Some of the temporary visitors, in other words, are the ones that now get to stay. The city hasn't published permanent spots for the last three titles, so expect them somewhere downtown, but not necessarily where they stood before.
"We're turning our city into a permanent public outdoor space," Michael Tublin, who oversees much of the city's arts and cultural programming, told TAPinto. Once all 15 are in, New Brunswick will have the largest collection of Johnson sculptures outside Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, the 42-acre sculpture park Johnson founded himself.
The six that leave on November 30
At the same time, New Brunswick City Center's 2026 seasonal exhibition is still up. It opened June 4 and runs through November 30. These are the loans, and they head back at the end of the month.
| Work | Where it stands now | Year of the work |
|---|---|---|
| "Latte?" | 356 George Street | 2014 |
| "Chance Meeting" | 335 George Street | 1987 |
| "Who's In Charge" | Liberty Square Park, 150 Neilson Street | 1991 |
| "Elemental" | 7 Livingston Avenue | 1993 |
| "The Gardener" | Monument Square Park, 2 Livingston Avenue | 1987 |
| "The Photo Session" | 344 George Street | 1987 |
The City Center tour page lays these out as a self-guided walk from north to south, with walking directions from each stop to the next, and it can be started anywhere or walked in reverse. The photo contest also runs out on the 30th. Post a selfie with one of the sculptures on Facebook or Instagram tagged #NBStatue and #SewardJohnson by 11:59 p.m. on November 30 to be entered for a gift card to a local shop or restaurant, valued between $25 and $100.
Monument Square Park is where the handoff is clearest
One small park shows the change best. "The Gardener," a loaned figure tending plants, sits in Monument Square Park at 2 Livingston Avenue through the end of November. The city's final installation wave is also scheduled for November, and it includes "Coming Home," a sculpture of a soldier that will go into the same park permanently.
The schedule for waves two and three hasn't been announced, so the permanent collection will keep growing through November on a timetable nobody outside City Hall knows yet. For a few weeks, a walk down George Street and Livingston Avenue may turn up a loaned figure on one corner and a newly bolted-down one on the next. On December 1 the loans are gone and whatever has been installed by then stays.
Johnson was born in New Brunswick on April 16, 1930, and died in March 2020 at 89. "For Seward, this is his birthplace and there are so many layered stories about New Brunswick and Seward," Losavio told TAPinto.
A loop for the overlap weeks
The October 18 Art City festival left a third layer behind. TAPinto's preview said the festival's temporary installations would stay up for about five weeks afterward. If that holds, they'll still be there for most of the time the loans and the new permanent pieces overlap. Here's one way to see all three on a single walk:
- Start at 78 Bayard Street with "Out to Lunch" on the City Hall lawn.
- Walk to Bayard Street and Elm Row for "Strolling Professor."
- Head to George Street for three loans that leave November 30: "The Photo Session" at 344, "Latte?" at 356 and "Chance Meeting" at 335.
- Continue to Liberty Square Park at 150 Neilson Street. "Who's In Charge" shares the park with Jin Jung's large light box from Art City.
- Stop at 7 Livingston Avenue for "Elemental."
- Finish at Monument Square Park with "The Gardener," and see whether "Coming Home" has arrived yet.
For the Art City pieces beyond Liberty Square, add a detour. Kate Eggleston's splayed-chicken sculpture sits outside the coLAB Arts studio, and Brooklyn artist Misha Tyutyunik's mural covers the studio's rear walls. "A Tree Was Here," Dennis RedMoon Darkeem's pair of illuminated towers, each about eight feet tall, was placed on French Street next to RWJBarnabas. The temporary forest under a downtown overpass was built with Rutgers University landscape architecture students. The illuminated towers are probably at their best after dark, and by late November it gets dark early.
There's one more indoor stop. Art City New Brunswick lists an open studio with Jin Jung on Friday, November 6, from 5 to 8 p.m. at coLAB Arts Studios, 6 Kirkpatrick Street, with the gallery open November 6 through 25. If you drive in, the New Brunswick Parking Authority runs garages and metered street parking downtown, and you can pay through ParkMobile.
Two new places to eat on the route
The George Street stops pass right by Miss Birria at 367 George Street. Owners Yenny Reyes and Elihut Garcia were in a soft opening in late September, serving tacos and birria ramen, TAPinto reported.
To sit down out of the cold, try Strand Market at HELIX, 120 Albany Street. NJ.com reported in early September that Barista and Taca Taca had opened there, with Today's Special and Gallagher's Irish Pub still to come. The HELIX Strand Market page lists Barista Cafe, Taka Taka, Today's Special, DeeDee's Pizza and Gallagher's as tenants. Check hours before you go, since some of those tenants were still on their way in when that coverage ran.
Whether you walk the loop this weekend or wait for "Coming Home" to arrive in Monument Square Park, I love hearing what people find downtown, and which statue ends up as your favorite. If that walk gets you thinking about your own plans in Middlesex County, I'm always glad to talk them through over coffee on George Street. MaryBeth Tomaro is here when you're ready. Schedule a Free Consultation.
