LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Art rings a bell with congregation


Local artist Brian Enright created this modern sculpture using the original bell from Our Savior's Lutheran Church. Photo provided

Public art might be popping up all over Lafayette, but there are also notable private art pieces that residents might not have noticed such as the historic bell sculpture tucked away in a courtyard outside Our Savior's Lutheran Church on Carol Lane. And this piece has special significance to the church.

Oakland artist Brian Enright, who grew up in Lafayette, explains that the bell featured in the sculpture was the one used in the bell tower of the original building built in 1947. "They haven't had a bell tower for 40 years or so," says Enright, adding that it was unearthed in the past few years by the congregation and that they had been looking for something to do with it.

He was commissioned in 2017 to create a modern stand and "striker" for the original bell as part of the redesign of the central courtyard at OSLC. Using steel and redwood Enright created the 5-foot by 5-foot piece in his studio in Oakland.

"Brian has done a spectacular job with the piece and the placement," says Head Pastor Dan Senter. He says the tower and the bell were up there until it was torn down in the 1980s to begin the new building remodel. "Pulled from the rubble, it (the bell) has been lost in the basement for years."

Senter says that they think it might have originally come from an old steam locomotive before that.

"In the early days the hardest thing was keeping the teenagers out of the bell tower as pulling those old ropes to ring the bell was a favorite pastime," says Senter.