WITHIN THE ARTIST’S CREATION. OKAY, I HAVE WALKED THIS SPOT OUTSIDE SACRAMENTO CONVENTION CENTER COUNTLESS TIMES OVER THE YEARS AND NEVER NOTICED WHAT WAS HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT UNTIL NOW. STARING BACK AT YOU OUTSIDE SACRAMENTO CONVENTION CENTER ALONG 13TH STREET ARE THE FACES OF A PUBLIC ART SCULPTURE THAT HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE. THIS IS THE SCULPTURE. TIME TO CAST AWAY STONES ON ITS FACE. THIS WATERFALL SCULPTURE IS MEANT TO BE REMINISCENT OF THE ART FROM ANCIENT CULTURES SEEN IN MUSEUMS. BUT LOOK DEEPER. AND THE ARTIST STEPHEN KALTENBACH HID SOMETHING IN PLAIN SIGHT JUST UNDERNEATH THE CASCADING WATERFALLS. TURN OFF THE WATER FOR A MOMENT AND WHAT IS REVEALED? CARVED INTO THE STONE, ARE FOUR PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS HOW ARE WE LOVING? WHAT HAVE WE THOUGHT? WHERE ARE WE GOING? WHAT HAVE WE WROUGHT? THE ARTIST TELLING ME THESE BROKEN FIGURES, THESE HIDDEN QUESTIONS REPRESENTING THE TRANSITORY NATURE OF CIVILIZATION. AND AS HUMAN FIGURES? QUOTE, THEY ALSO SPOKE TO HUMAN MORTALITY. SO THE NEXT TIME YOU’RE PASSING BY, THIS SPOT, STOP, TAKE A MOMENT AND LOOK DEEPER TO SEE WHAT’S HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT UNDERNEATH THE CASCADING WATERFALLS. A TIME TO CAST AWAY STONES. AT THE ESQUIRE PLAZA NEAR 13TH AND J STREETS IN SACRAMENTO, MIKE TESELLE FOR EXPLORE OUTDOORS, THE ARTIST STEPHEN KALTENBACH IS A UC DAVIS GRADUATE WHO ALSO HAS SEVERAL
Explore Outdoors: Deeper meaning of sculpture hidden in plain sight
Updated: 9:15 AM PST Nov 28, 2025
Many, many times, I’ve walked past the unique faces that peer out from a public art sculpture outside Sacramento’s Convention Center and never once realized what was hiding in plain sight—until now.”Time to Cast Away Stones” by artist Stephen Kaltenbach is an eye-catching array of differing broken stone faces atop two rectangular fountains with cascading waterfalls that was first unveiled along 13th Street next to the Esquire Plaza in 1999.”Although stone lasts for thousands of years, it is brittle, so much of the world’s history of figurative sculpture has been broken,” wrote Kaltenbach in an email to KCRA3. “Seeing these broken figures was so reminiscent of the art from ancient cultures seen in museums that, to me, they quickly came to represent the transitory nature of civilization, and, as human figures, they also spoke to human mortality.”But, if you look deeper and through the cascading water, you’ll see what is partially hidden.Under that fall of water are four philosophical questions waiting to be discovered.Those questions, or discoveries, are meant to add a deeper layer to this public art display that started as clay and was fired to become like stone.”Because artists are constantly seeking to give their work extra layers of meaning, these discoveries were extremely valuable to me,” wrote Kaltenbach.To see what those questions are, watch the video above.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Many, many times, I’ve walked past the unique faces that peer out from a public art sculpture outside Sacramento’s Convention Center and never once realized what was hiding in plain sight—until now.
“Time to Cast Away Stones” by artist Stephen Kaltenbach is an eye-catching array of differing broken stone faces atop two rectangular fountains with cascading waterfalls that was first unveiled along 13th Street next to the Esquire Plaza in 1999.
“Although stone lasts for thousands of years, it is brittle, so much of the world’s history of figurative sculpture has been broken,” wrote Kaltenbach in an email to KCRA3. “Seeing these broken figures was so reminiscent of the art from ancient cultures seen in museums that, to me, they quickly came to represent the transitory nature of civilization, and, as human figures, they also spoke to human mortality.”
But, if you look deeper and through the cascading water, you’ll see what is partially hidden.
Under that fall of water are four philosophical questions waiting to be discovered.
Those questions, or discoveries, are meant to add a deeper layer to this public art display that started as clay and was fired to become like stone.
“Because artists are constantly seeking to give their work extra layers of meaning, these discoveries were extremely valuable to me,” wrote Kaltenbach.
To see what those questions are, watch the video above.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel