Photo of the Day: ‘Leonia Moose,’ Erika and David Boyd Sculpture Garden, Leonia NJ

At twilight today, driving a couple of miles from where I live in Bergen County, NJ, I was observing several Christmas displays when this image drew my attention. Given the holiday decor all around me and the growing darkness, my first thought was that it was a representation of a reindeer. Then I saw the title of this work: Leonia Moose.

If any moose has ever been spotted in this town, it was not by me, and not after Leonia became an inner-ring suburb of New York rather than a rural area. Actually, it’s meant not to remind viewers of what is seen now but of what existed here centuries ago, when forests were filled with wildlife.

I couldn’t help but like Alberto Bursztyn’s work, which the Brooklyn artist assembled on site from natural fallen lumber collected in Leonia’s Highwood Hills forest.

This was one of five outdoor works installed during this year’s pandemic by the all-volunteer, non-profit organization Sculpture for Leonia.