While wandering around downtown Edmonton a few years back, I spotted at a distance a worker sitting on a bench with his lunch box. As I got closer, it became clear that this was work of art.
It’s a detailed aluminum sculpture of a working-class man, sitting with his lunch box and thermos, smoking a cigar.
“Lunchbreak” is the creation of John Seward Johnson Jr. born in 1930 in New York. While he was well known as an artist who liked to create “everyday people doing everyday things”, he was also one of five siblings heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals company. Mr. Johnson operated the Johnson Atelier bronze foundry, where he fabricated sculptures for himself and other artists. He passed away in 2020.
The piece was installed by the Edmonton Arts Council in 1983. It is located in Churchill Square.
