Toledo Botanical Garden Public Art Tour
Explore selected works from the Art in Public Places Collection at the Toledo Botanical garden
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1. Arborous Nine
Our tour begins with the carved wooden columns of Arborous Nine at the entry to the Botanical Garden
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Harry Wheeler
This series of eight totem-like carved wooden columns was created in 1976 by Akron artist Harry Wheeler and serves as a landmark entryway to the Toledo Botanical Garden.
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Entry Landmark
Sited directly off the main entrance on Elmer Drive, these forms have greeted visitors to the botanical garden for almost 50 years, positioning a sense of craft-oriented naturalism as the defining aesthetic of the park and its many programs, structures, and artworks.
Arch With Wedge (2004) by Kenneth ThompsonThe Arts Commission of Greater Toledo
2. Arch With Wedge
The next stop on our tour through the Toledo Botanical Garden is Arch With Wedge by sculptor Ken Thompson
Ken Thompson
Arch with Wedge was created by artist Ken Thompson as part of a series of cast concrete arches based on Buckminster Fuller's theory for the creation of the concrete suspension bridge.
Suspension
Fuller theorized that if concrete elements were stung together on steel cables and torque was applied, the result would be a rigid form with great strength.
Richard Boers
The sculpture was installed at Toledo Botanical Garden in 2004, and commemorated in 2017 in honor of Richard Boers, one of the founders of the garden and longtime leader at the Toledo Parks Department who helped envision and create many of the city's green spaces.
Woman With The Birds (1974) by Joe Ann CousinoThe Arts Commission of Greater Toledo
3. Woman With The Birds
Next, we'll view Woman With The Birds, a bronze sculpture from 1973 by Toledo artist Joe Ann Cousino
About the Sculpture
Woman with the Birds was commissioned in 1973 by trustees of the Crosby Gardens, now the Toledo Botanical Garden, and The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo.
Joe Ann Cousino
It was created by Joe Ann Cousino, a renowned sculptor and lifelong Toledo resident who worked primarily in figurative bronze but created works across many mediums over her career.
Multidisciplinary Artist
As a 1954 Toledo Blade headline declared "Name Any Art Media, And Chances Are Good That Mrs. Cousino Has Had Experience In It."
Local Figure
Cousino was a graduate of Scott High School and The University of Toledo, who worked and taught in Toledo for over 50 years. Woman with the Birds is among her best-known works and a centerpiece of the park.
Monument to a Tree (1994) by Carl FloydThe Arts Commission of Greater Toledo
4. Monument To A Tree
Our next stop is Monument To A Tree, a massive sculpture made of reclaimed steel by artist Carl Floyd
Carl Floyd
Monument to a Tree was a major sculpture commissioned from artist Carl Floyd that explores many concepts and techniques evident throughout his practice, equally mechanistic and environmental with a substantial architectural presence.
Salvage Materials
Floyd frequently used mechanical and repurposed elements in his sculptures, and Monument to a Tree is the results of two halves hewn from a single 20-foot slab of steel recycled from lake freighters, truck trailers, and a nuclear power plant.
Small Park with Arches (1984) by Alice AdamsThe Arts Commission of Greater Toledo
5. Small Park With Arches
Alice Adams' Small Park With Arches is our next stop.
First Public Art Commission
Small Park with Arches represents the first permanent public commission by noted American sculptor Alice Adams, whose work explores memory, craft, and architecture.
Alice Adams
Adams' work has grown in scale throughout her career, from three-dimensional woven forms in the 1950s and 60s to sculpture that explored the materials, details, and interactions of architecture and space in the 1970s, to site-specific public art projects in the 1980s.
Reconstruction
Small Park with Arches was originally created with wooden beams and laminated wood arches, and was reconstructed in stainless steel in 1999 in order to better withstand the elements and preserve both the form and function of the site as a gathering and resting place at TBG.
Watching for the Wind (1989) by Ron WilsonThe Arts Commission of Greater Toledo
6. Watching For The Wind
Our next stop is Watching For The Wind, consisting of three sculptural boat-like forms floating on the pond at the Botanical Garden
6. Watching For The Wind
Watching for the Wind occupies a unique position in the Percent for Art Collection as the only sculpture installed on a body of water.
Floating Sculpture
Artist Roy Wilson of Pennsylvania is noted for the creation of many water-sited sculptures, and Watching for the Wind depicts three sailboats in vibrant yellow held in stasis as they traverse the pond.
Sign of Spring
The boats are removed for winter each year, and their reinstallation is a traditional indication of spring at the botanical garden.
Empathy (2001) by Emanuel EnriquezThe Arts Commission of Greater Toledo
7. Empathy
The next stop on our tour is Empathy by Emanuel Enriquez, located in the center clearing of the rose garden
Bronze Sculpture
Accomplished local artist Emanuel Enriquez was commissioned to create this figurative bronze sculpture in 2002 at the Toledo Botanical Garden.
Rose Garden
The sculpture resides in the Rose Garden, and depicts a mother and child encircled by the foliage of the garden.
Emanuel Enriquez
Enriquez is also the creator of the sculpture Who's Up?, located at Fifth Third Field in Downtown Toledo.
About the Artist
His studio is in Bowling Green, Ohio, where he has created artworks across various mediums over five decades, with a particular focus on bronze casting and stone carving. He was recently honored as the 2024 Distinguished Artist of the Year at the Barrio Latino Art Festival.
Tribute
The sculpture was created in tribute to Jim and Elsie Brower, members of The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo's Public Art Committee and representatives from the Toledo Botanical Garden.
Ruth (1962) by Leonard "Ernie" MollThe Arts Commission of Greater Toledo
8. Ruth
Our last stop is Ruth, a distinct figurative sculpture by local artist Leonard "Ernie" Moll
Original Commission
Ruth is an original work created in conjunction with the founding of the Toledo Botanical Garden (originally the Crosby Gardens) in 1962.
Lavern E. "Ernie" Moll
Artist Lavern E. "Ernie" Moll was a Northwest Ohio native, born in Wauseon, who was teaching in the Art Department at The University of Toledo at the time of this work's creation.
About the Artist
He later chaired the Art Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he taught sculpture for over 20 years.
About the Sculpture
Ruth is a vibrant depiction of a young girl lifting her arms to the sky surrounded by a forest of trees.
Unique Style
It consists of welded steel in distinct curved forms resulting from their reuse, giving the final sculpture a gestural, almost hand-drawn quality and a consistent patina from over 60 years on site.
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Thanks for exploring artworks at the Toledo Botanical Garden
Find more information about the Toledo Botanical Garden Metropark at the Metroparks website
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