Central Park: Alice-in-Wonderland Sculpture – New York NY

City:
New York, New York City, NY

Site Type:
Art Works, Sculptures

New Deal Agencies:
Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Quality of Information:
Very Good

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

Works Progress Administration (WPA) artist Frederick George Richard Roth, who worked for the WPA as head sculptor at the Parks Department, and who also created several other sculptures in Central Park including the Dancing Goat, the Dancing Bear, and Mother Goose, plus the animal friezes at the Central Park Zoo, created this Alice-in-Wonderland themed sculpture commemorating Sophie Loeb (1876-1926). Sophie Loeb was a writer who advocated for children and for playgrounds in Central Park. Mayor LaGuardia and Robert Moses attended unveiling ceremony on October 2, 1936.

The statue was originally created for Heckscher Playground, but was later moved to Levin Playground in Central Park, near 77th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Source notes

https://www.kermitproject.org/newdeal/centralpark/sophieloebfountain.html, last accessed March 2016 Central Park, Loeb Memorial Fountain: History, at the NYC Parks Department website, last accessed March 2016 Federal Writers' Project, The WPA Guide to New York City, Random House (1939), p.351. Ephemeral New York., last accessed March 2016 Department of Parks, Press Release, October 2, 1936

Site originally submitted by Frank da Cruz on August 1, 2015.

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