Iconic comic actress Lucille Ball was born in Celoron, New York, and in 2009 the town’s residents commissioned a statue to honor her. It was designed to show the comedienne performing one of the most famous of her routines on “I Love Lucy,” the “Vitameatavegimin” bit. For some reason, however, the sculptor either decided to portray Lucy as a creature from Hell, or had never actually seen a picture of Ball and just guessed, badly, at what she looked like. The result, which a sighted “Let’s Honor Lucy” committee member should have rejected at first glance, now stands in the town park, an eyesore and an insult to Ball’s memory.
Now some of the residents are trying to get the town to junk the statue, and rallying Lucy fans to put pressure on the town leadership to act. My question is, what took them so long? Six years of this incompetent abomination is six years too long. A memorial is ethically obligated to honor its subject, not insult and defile her memory. Would the public tolerate a Lincoln Memorial where Abe was sculpted to look like an ape? Would it have stood by at the unveiling and said, “Well, okaaay, I guess we can live with that…I guess. I mean, its paid for and all”? What’s the matter with the populace of Celeron?
Artistic and non-realistic statuary are risky but can be acceptable, if controversial. Marisol’s statue depicting Hawaiian saint Father Damien after he had suffered the ravages of leprosy is a famous example. The artist’s argument, after her artwork was attacked as grotesque, that Damien’s heroism and sacrifice in caring for lepers was better honored by her representation than a more idealized and attractive one ultimately won over critics. The so-called “bubble gum” sculpture of President Kennedy’s head that is displayed in the Kennedy Center lobby is still controversial (I hate it)…but the Kennedy family likes it, so it remains. In contrast, the Martin Luther King Memorial in the National Mall was quickly condemned for including a false quote that misrepresented his character, and was cured of the defect.
Lucille Ball deserves better than this ugly, amateurish statue, and “better” includes no statue at all. The town’s only claim to fame is that she was born there, and for it to allow its most accomplished and beloved citizen to be memorialized by this monstrosity is disrespectful, incompetent, and wrong….and has been wrong for six years already. Apparently the problem is cost: erecting a new statue commissioned to a competent artist would cost at least $10,000. That’s OK! Just get a chain and a tractor, and Lucy’s memory can be immensely improved by simply tearing down the thing and hauling it away.
I bet the scrap metal value would about just about pay for it.
And now…here’s Lucy!
Ethics Alarms 
It’s like those horrendous “what’s hanging off their bodies” statues of ballplayers installed (and recently moved) at Nationals Park in DC. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2015/03/30/nationals-move-player-statues-from-center-field-gate/
At least those were attempts at art by a competent artist. (Picasso comes to mind). The Lucy statue is just amateur hour.
It’s been long enough since the installation at Nationals Park that perhaps I should stop grumbling. You’re a lawyer; is there a “statue of limitations”? (I’ll be ducking now)
Your thoughts on naming a sewage plant for someone to show dislike?
This statue is going to give me nightmares.
Oh, me too. It did last night, that’s why I woke up and wrote the post so early.
>> Now some of the residents are trying to get the town to junk the statue, and rallying Lucy fans to put pressure on the town leadership to act. My question is, what took them so long?
I think they have been *trying* for 6 years – this is just the first time someone put it on Facebook. (I think it is understandable they did not post it sooner, because posting such abominations almost certain violate the TOS…)
Well, then “trying” is giving them too much credit. Facebook was around 6 years ago, as was the 24 hr news cycle, cable, and blogs. And that horror was ready made for viral nightmares. TV Land? Lucy Arnez? There are still a lot of Lucy fans out there.
“You will drink this medicine or I’ll drink your blood instead!”
No, it isn’t. According to wikipedia, someone else was as well:-
As the old punchline puts it, “world famous back home in Ohio”.
Curiously enough, I once saw a documentary on Roger Tory Peterson that showed a town sign that claimed both him and Lucille Ball as being from there. This post made me check that; it turns out that it was the larger nearby town than her actual birthplace, and it is connected to her, but only through her residence.
And even further checking shows that yet other sources claim that it was the other way around, that Lucille Ball was born in Jamestown and only brought up in Celoron.
Well there’s the solution, then! Move the statue to Jamestown!
It would be easier to relabel it “Janis Hansen”.
Well, good art is not appreciated and bad art is not always recognized. I wonder if there is something about the artist that made it difficult to criticize this monstrosity?
In a related vein, here is a school district that decided to bulldoze their artwork so they can build a sports complex.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/sharonville/2015/02/12/princeton-alumna-races-clock-save-wall-murals/23288685/