On Thursday, famed “Make Way For Ducklings” sculptor and Newton native Nancy Schön called into GBH’s Boston Public Radio to discuss her latest public work for the city of Boston, a sculpture she says has been two decades in the making.
The piece, which debuted last week, is called “Diversity – The Owl and the Pussycat,” and depicts three characters from poet Edward Lear’s nineteenth century children’s rhyme “ The Owl and the Pussycat.”
“If you’ve read it, you know that it’s really delightful,” Schön said, “the way it talks about how they love each other.”
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If you aren’t familiar, Lear’s poem centers on the fantastic bond between a guitar-playing owl and their feline companion, who find themselves sailing away on a beautiful pea-green boat “for a year and a day,” until they’re able to get hold of a ring to make their love official.
The trio of three foot-high sculptures includes the titular owl and pussycat, as well as the generous “piggy-wig” who sells his septum ring to the two lovebirds for the modest price of one schilling.
Schon’s sculpture can be found in Nonquit Street Green, which was acquired and transformed by Dorchester’s Ruth Clarke in the early 2000s.
“The kind of details that this woman has put into this beautiful park, I can’t tell you how much I admire her and what a beautiful park it is and how special,” Schön said.
As for what’s next for the 92-year-old Schön, she told hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan that she doesn’t have plans to stop anytime soon. Her next batch of pieces includes a seven-and-a-half foot caterpillar planned for a park in Waban, a 13-petal flower planned for the Newton Public Library and a commemorative piece that'll be housed at the forthcoming shared campus for Newton’s Hebrew College and Temple Reyim.
