Art Tatum Celebration Column

The "Art Tatum Celebration Column" was commissioned in 2009 in conjunction with the construction and opening of the Huntington Center, home of the Toledo Walleye. The sculpture celebrates the legacy of legendary Toledo jazz pianist Art Tatum, and reimagines his piano keys as a towering column of light and motion. Artist Cork Marcheschi proposed the selected design as a concept around his own appreciation of Tatum's music and style. “The Art Tatum piece was very special for me because of my love of music, “ he said, “Tatum also represents the outsider who came to music through his own unique experience. The piece is a simple design based on a keyboard but a twisted keyboard. The warping of the keyboard is a direct representation of Art Tatum's incomparable ability to bend the piano."