By Jim Corr

Last week, Berkeleyside ran a photo in its popular “Where in Berkeley” series, featuring a work of art on Walnut Street, just north of Rose Street, in Berkeley. The photo showed a bench supported at one end by a sleeping angel and at the other by a howling dog. It didn’t take long for an alert reader to identify the piece and its placement.

What the photo did not show, however, was what the angel apparently had been reading when he/she fell asleep, and therein lies a small piece of Berkeley art history.

In the angel’s hand is an open book, with writing on the left page that reads: “a loving heart/an enquiring mind.” On the other page it reads: “1906 Diana Buist 2000.” As the person who submitted the image, I was intrigued by this and decided to find out more. … Continue reading »