The Family, (sculpture).

The Family, (sculpture).

Jencks, Penelope, 1936- , sculptor.

Havens, James M., fabricator.

Collaborative Inc., architectural firm.

The Family, (sculpture).

1984. Copyrighted 1984. May 17, 1984.

Digital Reference:

Figures: bronze with patina; Base: concrete and metal.

5 figures. Each figure: life-size.

(On lower bollard:) Penelope Jencks 1984 (On plaque on base, raised lettering:) "FAMILY"/A Bronze Sculpture of Five Figures/BY/PENELOPE JENCKS/Funded by the City of Toledo, 1% for Art Program/Administered By/The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo/DEDICATED MAY 17, 1984 signed

A sculpture composed of five free-standing figures located at various places in a waterfront park. A mother in her early thirties, her hair tied back in a scarf, wears a sundress and thongs. Her eyes are hidden behind sunglasses. She walks down the concrete steps of an amphitheater towards her husband and children. She holds a pear with her proper right hand and places her proper left hand on a railing. Some distance away, the father leans against a concrete stage with his proper right arm, holding a baby against his chest with his proper left arm. The baby reaches toward the mother with its proper right arm. The infant has curly hair and wears a short dress with long sleeves and panties.

The father wears a casual shirt that is open at the neck with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He is a man in his thirties with short, curly hair and the growth of a beard. His attention is directed to his teenage daughter, who is 70 yards away seated on a metal bollard overlooking the river, her proper right knee curled up to her chest. She wears a one-piece bathing suit. Her thongs are off and rest on the ground to her proper left. Both arms are folded around the knee. She has straight, shoulder-length hair, which seems to blow in the wind as she intently stares out over the water. Directly behind the father, on the amphitheater stage, is a toddler squatting with his proper right arm out for balance. His proper left arm is reaching forward to grasp a bottle cap found on the ground. The barefoot toddler is dressed in overalls without a shirt. The figures have a black patina.

Figure group -- Family

Outdoor Sculpture -- Ohio -- Toledo

Administered by City of Toledo, Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, 2201 Ottawa Parkway Drive, Toledo, Ohio 43606

Located Portside Amphitheater Park, End of Water Street, Toledo, Ohio

The sculpture was commissioned at a cost of $68,000. Funding was provided by the City of Toledo's One Percent for Art Program administered by the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo. The sculpture was installed and dedicated on May 17, 1984 during the opening of Toledo's Portside Festival Marketplace. At one time, the mother's proper right hand was at her side and she was not holding on to a railing. Vandals toppled the figure two times beginning in the summer of 1987. Each time the figure was repaired and reinstalled. After the third incident, in January of 1991, extensive changes were made to prevent further vandalism. James Havens of Woodville, Ohio, fabricated a new railing that matched the rest of the plaza and sculpture. He welded and sealed new platforms into the concrete base to hold the figure more securely. The skirt and hand are now welded to the railing. IAS files contain a photo from The Blade (Toledo, OH), June 30, 1985, Sec. B, pg. 3, showing the mother as she looked before the railing was added. In the spring of 1988, the toddler's right arm was broken by vandals and repaired. The sculpture is constantly being touched. The sculpture is waxed yearly. Image files do not contain a photo of the mother. IAS files contain related articles from The Blade (Toledo, OH), June 30, 1985, Sec. B, pg. 3 and June 11, 1984; and related information regarding sculpture repairs.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Ohio, Toledo survey, 1994.

The Blade (Toledo, OH), June 11, 1984.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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