Evelyn Taylor Price

Evelyn Taylor Price Memorial

    Philadelphia native Beatrice                              Fenton built the Evelyn Taylor   Price Memorial Sundial in 1947. The statue is made of bronze, and  measures 59 inches on top of a 36-inch granite base. It is located near the southwest corner of 18^th and Walnut, in Rittenhouse Square.

     The sundial was made to

 memorialize a woman who served as the president of

the Rittenhouse Square  

Improvement Association

from 1916- 1936 as well as

president for the Rittenhouse

Square Flower Association

from 1934 – 1946. Her friends

erected it once she passed away.

The piece depicts two nude, happy children raising a sundial in the face of a sunflower. The illustration of naked people, especially children, has been historically controversial. Even Michelangelo’s “David,” arguably the most famous statue ever, was met with distain. When it was first unveiled in Florence in 1504, the citizens greeted the piece with thrown stones. The sundial, however, did not experience any protest of major note. 

The piece has served the community as the welcoming face to Rittenhouse Square. It is a statue that is beloved by children and adults that frequent the park. It has also been used practically. In October of 1975 the city of Philadelphia had the park remodeled. This affected primarily the middle section of the Square, and included taking out trees, planting new ones, and laying brick. While the workers fixed the park, the statue held their coats and hats. (Picture to the left.)

The text reads: 

    'Ritten Hangups:'

The statues in Rittenhouse Square lent a hand to workmen installing a new brick walkway, part of a $269,00o facelifting for the historic public square, one of the first city parks in the country and designed by William Penn in 1681. The refurbishment included the removal of locust

 and catalpa trees, some of them dying, and

 the planting of 16 willow oaks in there place. 

The improvements affect only the middle portion 

   of the square.

Memorials and art like this can and have been used in films in multitudes of ways. These pieces can evoke memories, show location, and be used symbolically or metaphorically. A memorial could simply used to set location, like in the case of movies like National Treasure, which use shots of the Washington Memorial or the Lincoln Memorial repeatedly to show that the characters are Washington D.C. Other landmarks act as the same. For instance the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Space Needle in Seattle, or the Empire State Building in New York as function in a similar fashion.

           

Art can also be used symbolically in films. The Statue of Liberty is used in many movies as a national sign for freedom and liberty in the United States. It can also be considered patriotic. This rule doesn’t just apply to landmarks. Architecture like fountains can also represent ideas. Fountains often can be read as medicinal or life-giving, as well as a sense of rebirth.

             

I chose to talk about this piece because it seemed like a monument I could use in a film easily and effectively. For example, one could imagine this as a place where two people met when they were young children. The two grew up together, becoming close friends. Some years later one of them get in a car accident. If the person were to die, this spot would become sentimental, not only to the character, but now to the audience as well. The spot also becomes more than just a meeting place. Because of the children depicted in the statue, the spot now begins to symbolize youth, specifically the character’s youth. The sundial now symbolizes time, or perhaps time running out. The inscription in the face of the sunflower, which reads ‘The Hour Passes/ Friendship Abides’ also makes the statue now a personal testament to the two friends relationship.

Filmmaking has a way of transforming art to mean something else than intended, and that’s one of the most beautiful things about film. Memorials and public art used symbolically and/or metaphorically can help to strengthen and deepen a film.