Tending the Fire

Last updated
Tending the Fire
Tending the Fire
ArtistMJM Studios
Year2000
Typebronze
LocationPotawatomi Bingo Casino, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Coordinates 43°1′53.196″N87°56′5.44″W / 43.03144333°N 87.9348444°W / 43.03144333; -87.9348444
OwnerPotawatomi Historical and Cultural Board

Tending the Fire is a public art work produced by MJM Studios located on the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the Menomonee Valley. The bronze sculpture depicts a Native American figure seated near a small fire. [1]

Contents

Description

The figure has a bare torso and wears fringed pants. His hair is parted in the center, and two long braids reach down across his chest. Three eagle feathers extend from the back of his head, two facing upward and one facing downward. He is seated on the ground with his legs crossed in front of him. His back is curved forward. Both arms rest across his ankles. In one hand, he holds a twig toward the fire. His gaze is directed toward the space above the fire, which is an arrangement of logs that radiate outward from a center point and flames that reach skyward in a pyramidical form. [1]

Commissioning process

The Potawatomi Historical and Cultural Board commissioned MJM Studios to produce the sculpture for the new Potawatomi Bingo Casino in 2000. The sculpture recognizes the Potawatomi tribe's heritage as "keepers of the sacred fire," a role derived from Neshnabé legend. [2] The design of the sculpture is based on archival photographs.

Location

MJM Studios produced two Tending the Fire statues. One is installed in front of the main entrance to the casino, and the other is installed at the administrative office on S. 13th St. and St. Paul Ave. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alessandro Algardi</span> Italian sculptor (1598–1654)

Alessandro Algardi was an Italian high-Baroque sculptor active almost exclusively in Rome. In the latter decades of his life, he was, along with Francesco Borromini and Pietro da Cortona, one of the major rivals of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in Rome. He is now most admired for his portrait busts that have great vivacity and dignity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potawatomi</span> Native American people of the Great Plains

The Potawatomi, also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie, are a Native American people of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquin family. The Potawatomi call themselves Neshnabé, a cognate of the word Anishinaabe. The Potawatomi are part of a long-term alliance, called the Council of Three Fires, with the Ojibway and Odawa (Ottawa). In the Council of Three Fires, the Potawatomi are considered the "youngest brother" and are referred to in this context as Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and refers to the council fire of three peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Onslow Ford</span> English sculptor (1852—1901)

Edward Onslow Ford was an English sculptor. Much of Ford's early success came with portrait heads or busts. These were considered extremely refined, showing his subjects at their best and led to him receiving a number of commissions for public monuments and statues, both in Britain and overseas. Ford also produced a number of bronze statuettes of free-standing figures loosely drawn from mythology or of allegorical subjects. These 'ideal' figures became characteristic of the New Sculpture movement that developed in Britain from about 1880 and of which Ford was a leading exponent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rouen Cathedral</span> Cathedral in Rouen, France

Rouen Cathedral is a Catholic church in Rouen, Normandy, France. It is the see of the Archbishop of Rouen, Primate of Normandy. It is famous for its three towers, each in a different style. The cathedral, built and rebuilt over a period of more than eight hundred years, has features from Early Gothic to late Flamboyant and Renaissance architecture. It also has a place in art history as the subject of a series of impressionist paintings by Claude Monet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tori Busshi</span> Japanese sculpture

Tori Busshi was a Japanese sculptor active in the late 6th and early 7th century. He was from the Kuratsukuri clan, and his full title was Shiba no Kuratsukuri-be no Obito Tori Busshi (司馬鞍作部首止利仏師); Busshi is a title meaning "the maker of Buddhist images". By the early 7th century, Tori Busshi had become the favorite sculptor of Soga no Umako and Prince Shōtoku. Such high-ranking patrons indicate that Tori was highly esteemed as an artist and not just an anonymous craftsman. Many extant Asuka period sculptures in gilt bronze are credited to Tori and his workshop. The artist's work epitomizes Japanese sculpture during the era, with its solid, geometric figures in front-oriented, characteristic poses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest County Potawatomi Community</span>

Replicas of Michelangelos <i>David</i> Replicas of Michelangelos David

Replicas of Michelangelo's David have been made numerous times, in plaster, imitation marble, fibreglass, snow, and other materials. There are many full-sized replicas of the statue around the world, perhaps the most prominent being the one in the original's position in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, placed there in 1910. The original sculpture was moved indoors in 1873 to the Accademia Gallery in Florence, where it attracts many visitors. Others were made for study at art academies in the late nineteenth century and later, while the statue has also been replicated for various commercial reasons or as artistic statements in their own right. Smaller replicas are often considered kitsch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln Memorial)</span> Statue of Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Chester French at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., U.S.

Abraham Lincoln (1920) is a colossal seated figure of the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) sculpted by Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers. Located in the Lincoln Memorial, on the National Mall, Washington, D.C., United States, the statue was unveiled in 1922. The work follows in the Beaux Arts and American Renaissance style traditions.

<i>Untitled (Jazz Musicians)</i>

Untitled (Jazz Musicians) is an outdoor sculpture by American artist John Spaulding. It is located on the border of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus, near downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, at the corner intersection of Indiana Avenue and West Street. The sculpture faces the historic Madam Walker Legacy Center, which is located across the street.

Laura Spurr was the American chairwoman of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, a federally recognized Potawatomi tribe based in Calhoun County, Michigan, from 2003 until her death in 2010.

<i>Christopher Columbus</i> (Vittori)

Christopher Columbus is a public artwork by Italian artist Enrico Vittori and located on the grounds of the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The sculpture was installed on the southwest corner of the Indiana Statehouse lawn in 1920 as a gift from Italian immigrant communities in Indiana.

<i>Coal Miner</i> (statue) Statue by John J. Szaton

Coal Miner is a public artwork by Polish American artist John J. Szaton (1907–1966) which is located in two US State capitals; the original, commissioned in 1963 in Springfield, Illinois, as well as a copy on the west lawn of the Indiana State House in Indianapolis The statues commemorate coal miners who had lost their lives in those states' mining industry. The 7-foot (2.1 m) tall statue rests on a 3-foot (0.91 m) square, granite base supported by a cement foundation that is 4–6 inches (100–150 mm) thick.

<i>Saint Mother Théodore Guérin</i> (Clark) Statue by Teresa Clark in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Saint Mother Théodore Guérin is a public Artwork by American artist Teresa Clark, located at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., United States. This statue serves as a memorial to Théodore Guérin and was a gift from the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.

<i>Two Figures</i>

Two Figures is a bronze sculpture by the English sculptor Barbara Hepworth, which was cast in an edition of seven copies. One of these is located at Newfields, the campus that also houses the Indianapolis Museum of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. Other casts are at Southampton University, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma, Commonwealth Park in Canberra Australia, and the Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone, Japan. The series were cast at the Morris Singer Foundry in London from 1968 onwards. Another cast of this work could also be found at the University of Birmingham Vale site, but is no longer present as of January 2, 2012.

<i>Washington Monument</i> (Milwaukee)

The Washington Monument is a public artwork by American artist Richard Henry Park located on the Court of Honor in front of the Milwaukee Public Library Central Library, which is near Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The bronze sculpture is a full-length portrait of a 43-year-old George Washington, and stands on a granite pedestal; a bronze woman points up at Washington while a child, also made out of bronze, gazes upward. It was sculpted by Richard Henry Park and was erected in 1885 with philanthropic financial support from Elizabeth Plankinton. The statue was restored between July 2016 and January 2018.

<i>Abraham Lincoln: The Hoosier Youth</i> Sculpture by Paul Manship

Abraham Lincoln, The Hoosier Youth is a heroic bronze sculpture by American artist Paul Manship and was commissioned in 1928 by the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company for its headquarters in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The statue is 12.5 feet (3.8 m) tall and sits atop a pedestal designed by architect Benjamin Wistar Morris and a granite base. The sculpture depicts a youthful Abraham Lincoln during the time he lived in Indiana. The Lincoln figure wears a handmade shirt, buckskin trousers, and boots. He is seated on a tree stump and holds a book. An ax leans against his leg and a dog is seated beside him. Manship also sculpted four bronze allegorical bas reliefs, one for each side of the pedestal, to represent traits associated with Lincoln: Charity, Fortitude, Justice and Patriotism. The statue was dedicated on 16 September 1932.

<i>King and Queen</i> (sculpture) Sculpture series by Henry Moore

King and Queen is a bronze sculpture by Henry Moore, designed in 1952. It depicts two figures, one male and one female, seated beside each other on a bench, both facing slightly to the left. It is Moore's only sculpture depicting a single pair of adult figures. Moore's records suggest it was originally known as Two Seated Figures.

<i>Thomas Jefferson</i> (Bitter) Statue by Karl Bitter

Thomas Jefferson is a 1911 bronze statue of a seated Thomas Jefferson created by Karl Bitter for the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in Cleveland, Ohio, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Queen Anne, St Paul's Churchyard</span>

A statue of Queen Anne is installed in the forecourt outside the west front of St Paul's Cathedral, in London, United Kingdom. It became a Grade II listed building in 1972.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Tending the Fire--The Story behind the Statue". Potawatomi Bingo Website. Forest County Potawatomi Community. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  2. Edmunds, R. David (1988). The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press (Civilization of the American Indian Series). ISBN   0-8061-2069-X