Bea: The Creation Of A Unique Literacy Sculpture
- Christina Pfeffer
- Jun 26, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 23, 2024
When I was asked to create something that represents Anderson, Indiana to me, I immediately thought of all the beautiful places that a native Hoosier probably takes for granted. The place I settled on was 8th Street Park. I currently reside on West 8th Street. The park is nicely maintained and is a testament to the wonderful growing conditions that Indiana boasts.
I was working on a watercolor of 8th Street Park when I happened to look up and immediately made a connection to a painting I had created from memory, even though I had never been to Indiana before. Well, at least not in this lifetime. I realized that the painting titled "Tesla" was indeed of downtown Anderson. The gas lanterns in the picture look identical to the ones I see out my dining room window that border West 8th Street. Some might argue that any town could resemble the picture I painted back in September 2021, but I see it as Meridian Street and the buildings that line it. This is the place I now call my studio home.
I am a native northern New Yorker and until 2022, I made it my home. So how did I paint this picture three years before I actually arrived in my current home state? That question I cannot really answer but can only draw conclusions. I base those conclusions on how I live my life now and do my art.
This is how most of my art is created. It starts with an impulse, followed by another, until I feel like it is finally complete. My current project is a creation of a unique sculpture that has taken shape with the help of a few collaborators. Every time I talk about my project to someone, more and more ideas emerge from the conversation.
My initial idea was to create a sculpture out of an old mannequin, something I have done many times before (about five times). However, this one would be different. I would use only recycled print and found items. Interestingly enough, when I was sharing my enthusiasm with the previous mannequin owner and mentioned my intention to use old books and print material for the sculpture, she offered to donate some old books she had acquired. She rummaged around and finally placed her hands on them. Wrapped in wax paper to protect them, these old classics looked pristine. Copyrighted in the 1940s, they were yellowed but in perfect condition. The classics included works by Julius Caesar, Longfellow, and Edgar Allan Poe. There was no way I could use these books for the sculpture; defacing these beauties would be an atrocity.
I gladly took the bag of books purely for their good energy. Surely, they were loved by someone who valued literacy. After all, my goal was to donate the final sculpture to the library in Anderson to raise awareness about the resources the library offers. The sustainability and affordability that the public library affords everyone is something I hope to highlight with my sculpture.
The project began with me sculpting chicken wire over the mannequin form, achieving a dress shape I was happy with. The mannequin's name was Bea. I named her as I was putting her in my van to take home. Beatrix Potter has always been inspiring to me. As a mom of eight, I have read "Peter Rabbit" more times than I can count and have it mostly memorized, so I can recite it even with my tired, sleepy eyes closed. Of course, there were other classics like "The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin" and "The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck," but "Peter Rabbit" was the favorite.
I relate to the fact that Beatrix Potter was in her later years before she published any of her stories. Like her, I also use watercolor to illustrate my children's stories. Hers were letters she wrote to her friend and former Governess's sick son, while mine are for my own children.
The idea of Bea has evolved to depict the image of her getting on a train in the late 1880s to travel and get her stories published. The scene I envision is as follows: she is leaving behind her gardens, teeming with little creatures, their adventures and misadventures. The imagination of Beatrix will be represented by large paper flowers as part of the sculpture, which I have yet to create, with water colored images of Peter Rabbit and other characters scattered about as she leaves with her suitcase. Inside the suitcase are the literary classics that have shaped Beatrix into the author she is. ( The Classic Red Books that were gifted to me.)
I almost forgot to mention the most important element of this sculpture. Beatrix will be holding a special book in her hands. Within the bag of books that was gifted to me, at the bottom lay an old tattered book titled “The Eclectic 5th Reader.” I assume it was a tool of a one-room schoolhouse teacher, the same one who had lovingly preserved these classic books. Within the pages were lovingly placed newspaper clippings of births, marriages and deaths from 1864. Also lovingly folded and preserved was a small scrap of paper with a beautifully drawn image of a horse and wagon on one side, and a train complete with engine, passenger cars, and caboose on the other side. Delicately drawn for the owner of the book, this find solidified my pursuit of promoting literacy and libraries.
All of these things were waiting for me to find and to do something with, and I have, and I will.
I will be posting updates on her progress and I hope to have her set up in the Atown Gallery for the August First Friday, just in time for the start of the school year. With the Anderson Library’s approval, she will find a temporary home in the library. She may become available to travel after her time in Anderson. If you know of a library that would like Beatrix to visit, please let me know, and I will try to make that happen.
Blessings On Your Journey,
Granny Chrissy
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