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Birds and Benches in North Natomas Regional Park

Join Ronnie Frostad Tuesday, March 3, 2026, and learn about her work as an artist and foundry owner.

Workers setting a large bronze lion onto a pedestal. open_in_full

Roaring Lion

Birds and Benches Mentor Artist Speaker Series

Aida Ayer's Artist Talk and mixed media textile workshop were exciting, educational, and inspirational start to our Mentor Artist presentations. These presentations will happen at the North Natomas Community Center throughout Spring 2026. The Artists' Presentations will be offered 5:30pm-7:30pm, will be family-friendly, and open to the public. Our next presenter will be Ronnie Frostad from Frostad Altelier on Tuesday, March 5, 2026.

These experienced artists and fabricators have been hired to mentor the Phase 2 Bench Design Artists as they move through their creative processes. In this series, these four Mentor Artists will introduce themselves and their work to the community, and to our cohort of artists. Our Birds and Benches Mentor Artists will share their work, their process, and their experiences with art in the public realm. These mentors will be availlable to our Phase 2 Bench Design Artists for consultations regarding community engagement, design, fabrication, and installation of public art projects for the Birds and Benches Project over the next two years.

Ronnie studied art at American River College and the University of Davis with a strong interest in sculpting. Following her studies, she became manager of a small bronze art foundry in Shingle Springs, California then mid-town Sacramento. She decided to open her own foundry in Rocklin, California in 1998, and soon the foundry produced a number of large-size sculptures by various artists. After 5-years in this facility, the need for a larger foundry became evident, and she moved the foundry to the recently-closed McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento. This was a 28,000 square-foot foundry that allowed the construction of many monumental-size sculptures including the largest standing lion in the world. ...(S)he moved to her present location in North Natomas, Sacramento in 2015. This foundry is state-of-the-art with an attached art gallery.

Ronnie is the only woman in the United States who owns and operates a foundry on a daily basis. However, besides casting sculptures for other artists, she has continued to sculpt and paint. She has completed and installed many of her own commissioned sculptures including a recently-completed 9-foot “Iron Man” sculpture in Los Angeles, California and a 15-foot “Virgin Mary” sculpture in Mount Shasta, California.

 

Ten new Art Benches in and around North Natomas Regional Park

Satellite image of a large undeveloped area in the middle of suburban housing. open_in_full

Ten Art Benches will be installed inspired by the avian life and history of the area.

Birds and Benches Project Taking Flight

The Birds and Benches in Natomas Public Art project is set to begin as we open with our Mentor Artist Presentation Series.

Mentor Artist Presentations run through May 2026.

Find more details and register today on our Eventbrite page at:

https://www.eventbrite.com/o/city-of-sacramento-office-of-arts-and-culture-111372511261

or by following the link below.

       

 

Project Outline

Funded through the City of Sacramento’s 2% for public art ordinance, the Sacramento Office of Arts and Culture (OAC) Art in Public Places (APP) program has been tasked with management of a new Artist Designed Benches Project in North Natomas Regional Park (NNRP) named Birds and Benches. 

The project will have two phases to support robust community engagement:

Phase 1 - Five (5) Artist Ambassadors to engage with five careholder organizations AND

Phase 2 – Ten (10) artists for the design and fabrication of up to 10 artist made benches.

The ideal envisioned bench design will enhance the community atmosphere of the site while celebrating the bird life of the Natomas Basin, focusing on areas in the park where visitors can enjoy resting and viewing avian species as well as other areas determined through conversations with project careholder organizations and community participants.

ARTIST CALL CLOSED JULY 28, 2025 

 

Birds and Benches Updated Proposed Timeline

UPDATED PROJECT TIMELINE

October 2025:                             Artists notified

December 2025:                         Contract and supplier paperwork completed

January 2025:                              Artists begin meetings with careholders and design development

February - August 2026:            Artist workshops

January 2027                               Phase 1 Artist exhibition and Phase 2 Conceptual design presentation                        

January 2027 :                             Phase 2 Fabrication begins

July 2027                                       Installation of Benches in North Natomas Regional Park

September 2027                           Artist Talk and final celebration of benches

                   

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