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KD Country: Sculptor Of Giants

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Sep 9, 2009 7:48 pm US/Eastern

KD Country: Sculptor Of Giants

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Office workers waiting for the bus at Forbes and Smithfield have plenty of company in the form of three 15-foot musicians that tower over pedestrians in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. The whimsical statues were created by sculptor James Simon.

"This is a giant baseball hat as you can see." The sculptor rolls out a concrete hat, measuring about three feet across, outside his uptown studio. He has sculpted a number of figures, large and small, in his three-story studio that was a former junkyard on Gist Street.

"It was filled with junk before," Simon said. "And some people think it's still filled with junk."

There is nothing pretentious about the artist or his work. Case in point: a concrete gorilla head that peers above an exterior door.

"This is baby King Kong," Simon said. "Wanted some cool artwork on the street, and whipped him out, and he's been here ever since."

Across the street, Forbes Autobody Shop is eyed by a pair of concrete dogs. Or is it the hydrant painted on the wall? Shop owner Ed D'Angelo loves his low maintenance "pets."

"I don't have to feed them. I don't have to clean up after them. They're great," D'Angelo said.

Simon's current project in clay is a flock of penguins.

"I'd like to put them all over the streets of Pittsburgh, waiting at bus stops and gathering in various corners and neighborhoods," Simon said.

Kids from Braddock helped with the mosaic work on a concrete frog that climbs the studio wall The also worked with the sculptor on the widely acclaimed "welcome to Braddock" sign near the Rankin Bridge.

So what is it, deep down inside, that motivates this artist?

"I like the money, really," Simon said. "Bundles of money that I just get every day from doing it."

The sculptor laughs, and returns to his work with visions of penguins patrolling the streets of Pittsburgh.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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