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Sun Wheel – by Steve Luecking

1997 / Cast iron.

Location: Founders Park, Highland Park, Illinois near the Breaside Metra Station.

Chosen by the city of Highland Park, IL to transform an old sandlot into a park at the southern entrance of the city, the artists elected to emphasize the history of the park’s location. Set between a railway station which had been instrumental in the city’s founding and a pioneer cemetery, the site also flanked the Native Americans’ Green Bay Trail. In acknowledgment of this historic footpath, Lanterman’s offering, Staffs, is a set of three outsized bronze walking sticks, with the imprints of ancient hands.

Sunwheel, a cast iron polar sundial with a 7′ diameter, rests at the center of a circle of berms intended to recall the designs of Jen Jensen in the city’s other parks. Like a giant industrial wheel it pays tribute to the railway’s role in shaping the Midwest and in the founding of Highland Park.

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