Openly gay artist Raymond Sandoval’s rendering of Chief Tamanend, who famously signed the peace treaty with William Penn, has stood sentinel over Front and Market streets for nearly 16 years. But an effort is underway to move the piece to a nearby park where the treaty was signed, despite the sculptor’s opposition.
The Friends of Penn Treaty Park are seeking to move the statue to the waterfront park in Fishtown, contending that it would be a historically relevant spot for the piece.
Sandoval, however, argues that the statue was designed for its current location.
“That sculpture is site-specific, which means it was made for that site,” he said. “When you look at a space, you envision something to go into that space, so that’s why it has the bench and its height. It was made specifically for that space.”
Sandoval was one of 3,000 artists across the nation who submitted proposals in 1992 in response to the city’s call for a sculpture for the location to honor Native-American contributions to the Delaware Valley. The piece was part of a reconstruction effort of the historic Old City district, and Tamanend is positioned to face the William Penn statue atop City Hall.
At the June 1995 unveiling of the chief, Sandoval recounted, that renowned city planner Edmund Bacon commented that the piece was the “exclamation point to Market Street.”
“All these prominent architects, planners and politicians were involved in the creation of this sculpture, so for this group to just come in and say they don’t like it there and want it in their park just doesn’t make sense to me,” Sandoval said.
Barb Morehead, founder and vice president of Friends of Penn Treaty Park, however, asserted that the location is less than prime for the piece.
“People don’t know it’s there,” she said. “His rear end is facing the river, and his front should be facing the river. And it’s just dirty, the area isn’t kept up.”
Morehead’s group is petitioning for the statue to be moved beneath a descendent of an elm tree where the treaty was said to have been signed in the park, which is also home to a statue of Penn.
“It shouldn’t be all about William Penn all the time,” she said. “Chief Tamanend made the treaty with Penn, so without him there wouldn’t even have been a treaty, so he’s just as important.”
Morehead said the effort to move the statue has gained support from Lenni Lenape in the area as well as some state lawmakers.
The group raised the issue with the Fairmount Park Commission earlier this month and is waiting for a response. In the meantime, the organization is working to raise funds for the potential move through grassroots means like neighborhood and school penny drives.
Morehead said she’s waiting for a cost estimate on moving the statue.
Sandoval speculated that the group may not be prepared for the price tag.
“The sculpture itself is 22 feet in bronze and weighs 4 tons. Then there’s the pedestal itself, which weighs three times as much,” he said, estimating that the entire structure weights about 20 tons.
Sandoval said he’s spoken with the grand chief of the Lenni Lenape, who lives in Oklahoma and that he’s also opposed to the move. The artist said he plans to contact the Fairmount Park Commission with his concerns.
“The whole point was for this to be in that area because of the historical reconstruction. Why did we put so much work into this back then when it’s just going to be undone?”
Sandoval suggested the Friends group direct its efforts instead toward raising money to commission a new Tamanend statue, but Morehead said the group plans to proceed with its original goal.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].