Imagination Park: How Two Film Characters Became Part of San Anselmo’s Public Life
By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.
Public art can give a small space a remarkably clear identity. In downtown San Anselmo, the bronze figures of Yoda and Indiana Jones make Imagination Park immediately recognizable, while benches and a fountain support more ordinary uses: sitting, meeting and taking a break.
The park’s story brings together a local filmmaker, a sculptor’s long relationship with a character and a community effort to create a new public setting beside Town Hall.
The gift included a place as well as sculptures
The Town’s park description dates George Lucas’s donation to 2013 and identifies Lawrence Noble as the sculptor of the two figures.
The listed features include benches, a walking path and bicycle racks, placing the works within a small but functional public landscape.
This combination matters. A sculpture can be an object to look at, while a park offers somewhere to remain. Seating and circulation help an artwork become part of daily life rather than only a photographic destination.
The original project required a community partnership
A May 2013 Community Foundation letter retained by the Town records the donated land and a fundraising goal for completing the park and installing the bronzes.
The letter makes the organization’s role clear. A generous gift provided the foundation, while further resources were needed to turn the site into a finished public place.
The distinction is useful for understanding civic projects at this scale. Land, art, construction and ongoing care are related parts of the effort.
The project’s success depended on bringing those pieces together in a setting already connected with the center of town.
The unveiling has a precise place in the town record
The Town Manager’s June 14, 2013 newsletter invited the community to the June 20 unveiling of the bronze statues.
A contemporaneous notice is valuable because it fixes a familiar landmark to the occasion when it first entered public use. What now feels established began with planning, construction and a particular gathering.
That history adds another layer to the experience of the park. The place is both a setting for present activity and the result of a remembered local project.
The Yoda sculpture belongs to a longer artistic story
Lucasfilm’s 2014 account of Noble’s work follows his development of Yoda sculpture and records the San Anselmo gift alongside other installations associated with the studio.
The account includes Noble’s own reflections on the relationship between character and sculpture. A figure first encountered on screen became something that could occupy real space and be approached from different directions.
That change of medium is part of the park’s interest. Film creates a controlled sequence of images; a bronze figure becomes an enduring presence within a changing outdoor setting.
The anniversary showed the park’s continuing role
A September 2023 Town announcement placed the tenth-anniversary celebration within Live on the Avenue, with themed activities and a film about the park’s creation.
The program connected the original gift with the town’s wider downtown events. The park had become a familiar setting that could support another shared occasion.
For someone learning San Anselmo, Imagination Park provides a specific example of public art embedded in everyday space. Its identity comes from the figures, but its local value also comes from the simple invitation to sit, meet and spend time in the center of town.
The recognizable images give that small pause a particularly memorable local setting.
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Sources checked October 28, 2026. Historical details are attributed to the linked primary records and site operators. Check the operator for current visiting arrangements.
