Wo-Peen - Harvard, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 30.518 W 071° 36.624
19T E 285536 N 4709554
The statue of Wo-Peen, born Louis Gonzales, is located on the grounds of the Fruitlands Museum, 102 Prospect Hill Road, Harvard, MA.
Waymark Code: WMM36P
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 07/13/2014
Views: 3
Wo-Peen (Louis Gonzales) was a pioneering Pueblo muralist, ceremonial dancer, singer, and governor of the San Ildefonso Pueblo from 1944 - 1945. He was born at the at San Ildefonso Pueblo in 1907, lived most of his life in Santa Fe, NM, and died in 1990. He commonly used, and signed is work as, Wo-Peen, his Native American name which means Medicine Mountain. In Massachusetts, seven of Wo-Peen's murals grace the walls of the Pueblo of the Seven Fires on the East Campus of Springfield College in Springfield, MA.
When the founder of the Fruitlands Museums, Clara Endicott Sears, wished to honor the Native American heritage she commissioned Philip Sheldon Sears to create a suitable sculpture. The artist chose Wo-Peen, who he first met at the dedication of the Native American gallery at Fruitlands in 1932, to be the subject. The finished work was installed in 1938.
The 95" by 72" by 40" bronze sculpture rests on a 64" by 56" by 72" rock cairn base. Wo-Peen is depicted seated on a pile of rocks. He is wearing a loin cloth, full feathered headdress, and moccasins. In is left hand he is holding a bow while his right hand is resting on his knee.
A rock on the lower part of the base is inscribed:
WO-PEEN
THE DREAMER