Snapshot in Lakewood

"Snapshot" by Jane Dedecker and the National Sculptors' Guild was placed in Lakewood, Colorado's Addenbrooke Park in 1994. 

​Snapshot was originally commissioned by Michael Jackson, The multi-figure bronze depicts a number of children ready for the camera, sitting on a bench with a wagon pulled up to one side; the kids are in a casual pose, enjoying a respite from summer play, holding toys and drinking a soda. It even includes the pouting kid in the back - not wanting to be pictured as often happens. The piece is universal even though it was inspired by photos Jackson gave DeDecker. 

NSG Placement #6

---

"The people of Lakewood have been walking past Michael Jackson and his pals for years — without knowing it.

In Addenbrooke Park sits a lifesize sculpture by Loveland artist Jane DeDecker. Commissioned by Jackson in 1992 — depicting Jackson as a young boy surrounded by his friends, also made younger for the piece, including Macaulay Culkin, Gary Coleman, his sister Janet Jackson, his niece Brandi Jackson and filmmaker friend Brett Ratner. The other children in the piece are friends of DeDecker’s.

DeDecker met Michael Jackson at an arts festival in Los Angeles in 1992. She had a booth on Santa Monica Boulevard, and he stopped to admire her work, but within 10 minutes they were surrounded by fans. Jackson fled but returned the next day in disguise, bought two pieces and visited with DeDecker for about an hour. It was after that that Jackson commissioned her to make “Snapshot,” a candid scene of Jackson and his friends. He sent her photographs for the piece, which she still has.

With a touch of whimsy, DeDecker put a baseball glove on young Jackson’s left hand, which, she says, delighted the King of Pop.

Jackson had the original bronze in his sculpture garden at Neverland. The one that sits in Lakewood is another casting from the edition purchased from the National Sculptors' Guild by the city of Lakewood in 1994  as the city's first piece of public art.

The city was unaware of the connection to Jackson at the time, says DeDecker, “I kept everything low-key, and I think he (Jackson) wanted it that way. He was just such a kind man. He loved my work and was always so supportive of me.” She says “Snapshot” isn’t so much about Jackson as it is about multiculturalism and youth. And that is still paramount," she says." - Denver Post, 2009

---