Tat’s Bizarre Travels

Bentleyville, PA - Big Jim is a giant brown statue of a cowboy with guns a blazin’ and crazy bulging eyes. He’s long and lean and standing guard at the entrance to the Best Western in Bentlyville. They should seriously think about making him the mascot. Seriously, he’s the most interesting thing I’ve ever seen at a chain motel. He also has a great view of the highway. The plaque on the statue tells you a bit more about him, and it reads:

Big Jim
The Cowboy
Gosai Park, Bentleyville, PA
Standing just shy of 20 feet tall and weighing 3.5 tons “Big Jim,” crafted in stunning detail out of recycled and antique steel parts, was erected in 1978 by artist/welder James Kurtz Sr. to recognise the cowboys of the old west and their contributions to American history. The statue stood guard in Twiglight Buro until 2007.
Restord and rededicated by Dr. Kamlesh Gosai
Best Western Inn June 9, 2007

Meadville, PA - My first stop this weekend was Read Between the Signs (better known as the PennDOT mural), a fantastic and exciting display of environmental art. The mural is really hundreds of road signs expertly lashed to the cyclone fence that separates the the highway from the PennDOT backyard. From what I can tell, it depicts the different parts of Pennsylvania, from the rolling hills to the snow covered mountaintops hilltops. It’s a visual representation of a John Denver song, only much, much, much, better.

When I first read that PennDOT had a “sculpture garden” of flowers made out of street signs, I knew I was in. Little did I know what it had blossomed into. In fact the flowers, impressive though they are at an average height of 6′ tall, are secondary to the mural itself.

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