Mother with Children, (sculpture).

Mother with Children, (sculpture).

Hopen, W. D., sculptor.

Mother with Children, (sculpture).

Dedicated May 9, 1982.

Sculpture: marble; Base: concrete.

Sculpture: approx. 5 ft. x 4 ft. 6 in. x 46 in.; Base: approx. 14 in. x 8 ft. 6 in. x 8 ft. (3 tons).

HOPEN (Plaque on front of base:) MOTHER WITH CHILDREN/BY/WILLIAM DOUGLAS HOPEN/GIFT OF/WEST VIRGINIA ALPHA DELTA KAPPA/1982 signed

A robust mother with two children. The mother is seated and has long textured hair pulled back and extending down her back below her shoulders. She wears a dress, suggested by short parallel stone chisel marks. Her proper right arm is bent sharply, forming a cradle for the nude baby resting on her proper right shoulder. The baby appears to be sleeping, with its proper right hand gripping the top of the mother's dress just below her chin. A young girl kneels in front of the mother and baby. The mother and girl touch. The girl has long flowing hair, down to her waist, is barefoot and wears a plain dress. The figures are installed in an indentation on the wall and sit atop roughly modelled white stones in a concrete curbed area.

Allegory -- Life -- Womanhood

Figure group -- Family -- Mother & Child

Outdoor Sculpture -- West Virginia -- Grafton

International Mother's Day Shrine, East Main & St. John Streets, Grafton, West Virginia 26354

IAS files contain related articles from Mountain Statesman (Grafton, WV) dated May 8, 1982 and May 10, 1982. IAS files also contain unidentified articles on the history of the Shrine. The sculpture was commissioned by the West Virginia affiliate of Alpha Delta Kappa, with financial support from the West Virginia Arts and Humanities Commission. The sculpture cost $9,200. The idea for the monument originated in 1966. It was local resident and Alpha Delta Kappa member, Miss Anna M. Jarvis (b. 1864), who came up with the idea for a national celebration of mother's day.

Inscription on nearby marker reads: MOTHER'S DAY SHRINE/AT THE REQUEST OF MISS ANNA/JARVIS, THE FIRST MOTHER'S DAY/SERVICE WAS HELD IN THIS CHURCH/MAY 10, 1908, IN HONOR OF HER/MOTHER. IN 1914, PRESIDENT/WILSON DESIGNATED THE SECOND SUNDAY IN MAY "MOTHER'S DAY".

Save Outdoor Sculpture, West Virginia survey, 1992.

Mountain Statesman (Grafton, WV), May 8, 1982, pg. 2A.

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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