Iroquois mark di suvero lithograph

The big surprise at the Iroquois sculpture dedication and talk that followed at the Fairmount Park Art Association meeting was the artist himself, Mark di Suvero, a guy whose gargantuan I-beam constructions&#;with the occasional moving part&#;suggest testosterone on legs.

A smallish crowd of about braved the heat, slight relief supplied by a tent and a light breeze.

Everyone seemed to be smiling, as several speakers heaped praise all around. The president of the Fairmount Park Commission, Robert N.C. Nix III said the location of the sculpture was &#;the real Avenue of the Arts&#; and the sculpture and the FPAA were the &#;cherry on the top of the cream pie.&#;

Sitting under the tent are Penny Balkin Bach and di Suvero.

FPAA&#;s Penny Balkin Bach, the leader of those saviors of Philadelphia public art, called the sculpture daring and bold, and praised di Suvero for using &#;the [construction] crane as his paintbrus