Category Monumental sculpture

George Sherwood’s Art and Tower Hill Botanic Garden: A Marvelous Match

Yet again I feel compelled to post without the revisiting, rereading, and rethinking I like to do before pushing the Publish button on this Wordpress site. George Sherwood’s kinetic sculpture exhibit Wind, Waves &  Light, Art in Motion, will end on October 14, 2019. Tower Hill Botanic Garden will continue and develop through the years ahead. I certainly want to see more of both, but first I must urge as many people as possible to plan to go before the sculptures leave.

Admire Animals by Artist Katharine Lane Weems in Boston: Dogs, Dolphins, Rhinos and More

The more I learn about sculpture by Katharine Lane Weems (1898 — 1989), the more I admire the art, the artist and the animals. An earlier post about two rhinos, Bess and Victoria, installed 1937 in Cambridge led me on to sites in Boston with work by this artist “famous for her realistic portrayals of animals.”  Her art combined scientific accuracy, meticulous renderings, and creative design to bring out the animals’ majesty and character. This post notes four places in Boston to be in the presence of her elegant animals. 

Tufts’ Monumental Mascot: Jumbo by Steven Whyte

The first time I saw Steven Whyte’s Jumbo statue on the Tufts University campus I had big plans to post about it. That was in April 2015 when it was first installed and celebrated.  Now four years including several visits later, I know that the massive range of Jumbo’s stories kept me from a decisive post. Today I’ll try to step back and share a bit of the big picture.

Huge and High above Us, Daffodils by Daniele Frazier Activate Seaport Common

Quick Post Now in Time for the Boston Marathon and April Vacation Plans

Men in Cambridge Made by Women: Anne Whitney and Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson

The statues of Charles Sumner and the Hiker both connect to stories worth telling, well told in the quotes below. The Sumner statue story leads back to a much earlier Boston proposal that was rejected because the artist Anne Whitney was a woman. The Hiker statue story leads on to a much later time when fifty bronze replicas of Kitson’s original around the country became part of a scientific study.

Monumental Sculptures by Fern Cunningham and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Combined Forces in Harriet Tubman Square

In recent years I had walked among these two monumental bronze sculptures in Harriet Tubman Square Park without appreciating how and when they had come together. Now I can offer valuable links for their significant stories that should be savored by you, instead of summarized by me.

What do Edgar Allan Poe and Bill Russell Have in Common?

My answer to the title question: Both have statues created by women artists in Boston: Poe by Steff Rocknak and Russell by Ann Hirsch. The dedicated, thorough approach of each artist to her subject links both stories of how their artworks came to be.

Uplifting Updates, Thanks to Boston Women’s Heritage Trail and Boston Art Commission

At the end of my self-assigned project of posting about women artists on Public Art Walk, I began to wonder how I could better share the fascinating discoveries that came from it.  After listing the artists and my posts on a blog page last month, I wished for some ways to convey what I had learned beyond my own small base of friends, colleagues, and family.  Now two organizations are doing what I wished for.

Anne Whitney and Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson Dealt with Men on Pedestals

My first post about women artists represented on Public Art Walk Boston included art by both Anne Whitney and Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson on Commonwealth Avenue Mall. That was in March 2017. Now almost a year later, I will wrap up the promised project with their additional art. 

Sculptors of Statehouse Statues: Emma Stebbins, Sylvia Shaw Judson, and Isabel McIlvain

Of the seven Massachusetts State House statues listed on the Public Art Walk, three are by women, each from a different generation. This prompts me to present them in time order, with basic facts, key links, and selected quotes.