“Mountains and Rivers Without End” captures my attention instantly. This isn’t just any sculpture. This is the Angel Adams and Gary Snyder Sculpture.
San Francisco is a city brimming with public art. This sculpture definitely earns its place among the most iconic. But what makes the Angel Adams and Gary Snyder Sculpture so special?
Gary Snyder is an interesting figure. In 1956 he was given a steaming cup to Gary Snyder. It was Buddha’s birthday in Berkeley. At 26 Snyder was already drawn to the East.
He studied Chinese and Japanese brush techniques. He sought to weave the spiritual power of the West Coast wilderness with the inner realm of the mind into a poem. Four decades and 147 pages later his epic poem “Mountains and Rivers Without End” was done.
Snyder’s work and persona have captivated many. Jack Kerouac modeled Japhy Ryder after Snyder in “The Dharma Bums”. In 1975 Snyder’s poetry collection “Turtle Island” won the Pulitzer Prize.
Snyder was born in San Francisco. He grew up on a dairy farm outside of Seattle. His mother read poems to him. He began composing his own as soon as he learned to write.
He spent summers working in national parks. He also worked as a logger and a deck hand on an oil tanker. After graduating from Reed College he took graduate classes at UC Berkeley in East Asian languages.
A month after his tea in 1956 Snyder moved into a temple in Kyoto. He studied Zen Buddhism. He stayed until 1969 translating ancient texts.
All the while he wrote poetry. He fused natural history Eastern religion and Native American myth into unrhymed verse. The Japan Poetry Review has called him an anarchistic erotic shamanistic Zen-Kegon-Tantric Buddhist ecological activist poet.
Six years ago Snyder and his neighbors formed the Yuba Watershed Institute. Snyder also helped found the nature and culture program at UC Davis. About five years ago he saw the commotion of Manhattan in a clarifying light. He brought his labors on his epic poem to a close.
This sculpture commemorates the man and his achievements. The Angel Adams and Gary Snyder Sculpture links us to the natural world. It also links us to the spiritual. It encourages reflection. It allows us to consider our place in the vast tapestry of existence. It is a tribute to a life dedicated to exploring those connections.