Water, (sculpture).

Water, (sculpture).

Kaufman, Mico, 1924-2016, sculptor.

Water, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: pink granite.

Sculpture: approx. H. 44 in. x 5 ft. 9 in.; Base: approx. 12 in. x 8 ft. 1 in. x 4 ft. 5 in.

(On sculpture, near ground:) Mico K. SC 1985 (On top of base, right front side:) "WATER"/Mico Kaufman SC/1985 (On top of base, back side:) ANNE SULLIVAN, TEACHER AND HELEN KELLER signed Founder's mark appears.

The sculpture depicts Anne Sullivan teaching Helen Keller her first word in sign language. Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller are seated on the ground next to each other. With her proper left hand Anne Sullivan forms the sign language word for "water" in Helen's proper right hand. The figures are modeled out of a roughly finished bronze and the sculpture rests on a short oval polished granite base.

Portrait female -- Sullivan, Anne -- Full length

Portrait female -- Keller, Helen -- Full length

Occupation -- Education -- Teacher

State of Being -- Disabled -- Blind

State of Being -- Disabled -- Deaf

State of Being -- Disabled -- Mute

Outdoor Sculpture -- Massachusetts -- Tewksbury

Administered by Town of Tewksbury, Town Hall, Tewksbury, Massachusetts 01876

Located Town Hall, Side lawn, Tewksbury, Massachusetts

The sculpture was a gift of the Committee of Interested Citizens of Tewksbury in celebration of the Town of Tewksbury's 250th anniversary. It commemorates the moment Helen Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, was able to penetrate the closed world of the deaf-and-blind Helen, helping her to understand the relationship between the word "water" and its physical presence. Anne Sullivan's ties to Tewksbury began in her early life when she lived at the Tewksbury Alms House, now the Tewksbury Hospital. Funding for the sculpture project came from donations by local citizens and the Massachusetts Arts Lottery. The inscription on a nearby plaque reads: The Anne Sullivan-Helen Keller Memorial Sculpture/Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of Tewksbury/Major Contributors: (list of 48 names). Additional information on the sculpture is available in the Tewksbury Public Library files for Mico Kaufman.

Carlock, Marty, "A Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston," Boston: Harvard Common Press, 1988.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Massachusetts survey, 1993.

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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