That would be beautiful Ivy, the new horse sculpture donated by renowned sculptor Claire McArdle who lives and creates in Colorado.  Ivy just took up residence in the Formal Garden.
 
Let us fill you in on just some of the backstory.  Sculptures like this don’t simply appear.  It takes a team of caring people to bring them to you.  Ivy is the result of an ongoing conversation with Claire, started over two years ago when she met with two members of the Sculpture Committee to visit her Gaia Torso, also in the Formal Garden.  Claire lived in Annapolis years ago and has fond memories of walking the Park with her sister Margie and Margie’s children. Claire agreed to create a new sculpture for us of a horse, inspired by Ivy, the horse who lives next door to her and in memory of all the horses who used to inhabit the Park.  Ivy then was shipped to us from Colorado.
 
We all agreed little Ivy required a place on which to stand so she could be seen from a distance.  Several conversations and meetings later, Claire and her assistant designed an arched metal pedestal mimicking the arch under Ivy and representing the flow of life.  Hmmm.  Who will make the pedestal? Did you know the Park system has a brilliant metallurgist?  We didn’t until, at the suggestion of our Park Superintendent, Shelley Ridge,  Bob Short, Kinder Farm Park’s maintenance supervisor offered to fabricate the pedestal, with the able assistance of Larry Sanders, our beloved maintenance supervisor.  And then to coat the pedestal so it would not rust and with a color compatible with Ivy’s stone.  Where to look?  We found this final team member in Steve Wisooker, the owner of Custom Performance Coating, who kindly picked up, beautifully sanded, powder coated, and delivered the finished pedestal to the Park.
 
And then to bring Ivy to her Formal Garden home. Larry, Bob and several members of the maintenance team gathered on a beautiful mid-October morning. A concrete pad had already been poured, with precisely located predrilled holes.  The three pieces of very heavy sculpture making up the new Ivy sculpture had to be transported to the site without damaging any of them.  Then the  three separate pieces had to be lifted and aligned perfectly to meet the concrete footer’s and pedestal’s predrilled holes, done again, to precisely meet those in the horse and her base.  And finally all were secured to keep the sculpture safe.  We are fortunate to have such caring, talented people on the Park staff.
 
Ivy looks forward to meeting you.  She suggests that when you visit, pause, breathe and feel her calm energy.  And as you leave her, look back and listen.  Was that a whinny?