A large-scale, metal sculpture inspired by Cincinnati's waterways is getting a makeover.
"Cincinnati Story" is a fan favorite at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton. The piece was commissioned in 1982 to adorn the plaza outside downtown Cincinnati's (now former) Chiquita building on East Fifth Street. It was relocated to Pyramid Hill in 1999.
It recently was relocated again, albeit temporarily this time, to Virginia, where art restorers will give it a full glow up.
"We're restoring the color palette," explains Delaney French, marketing and sales manager at Pyramid Hill. "Then, of course, being outside, the natural elements just kind of naturally wear down the piece, so they'll probably be doing a lot of sanding on the metal, and then repainting, and then a strong finish that will kind of do like a clear coat to protect it from the elements when it returns to Pyramid Hill."
Cincinnati Story is comprised of 46 pieces of bent metal lace — sheet metal carved to look like lace — that were painted in bright hues of red, orange, blue and green. The piece originally included jets that pulled water from a shallow pool and sprayed from throughout the piece like river offshoots.
The passing of time, coupled with water, weather and sunlight, have muted those tones to pastels, and the piece hasn't functioned as a fountain for decades, and likely still won't after the restoration.
All of those pieces made for a complicated disassembly process.
"It's like a puzzle, taking it apart and putting it back together," French marvels. "I think the surprising part was just how complicated and intricate the piece is. It was a little bit of a project to record how to take it all apart and put it back together."
The artwork was created by renowned artist George Sugarman and is one of just a few of his major works on permanent outdoor display, according to Pyramid Hill.
Sugarman, who died in 1999, is considered a pioneer in American modern sculpture, especially large scale public works. He enjoyed challenging the status quo of mainstream sculpture using bright colors.
The Smithsonian describes Sugarman as "a painter and sculptor who disliked labels because he believed they oversimplified the complexity of art, and Sugarman's artwork, like the artist himself, resists classification and oversimplification."
French says the inspiration for Cincinnati Story was Southwest Ohio's waterway history.
"It's inspired by our region that was really shaped by the waterway, and the water that kind of carves the region. That's what George Sugarman pulled inspiration from to create the piece," French explains.
The piece had to be disassembled to make the trip to Virginia. French says Pyramid Hill has the original blueprints, and each piece was marked as it was removed.
Why all the way to Virginia?
"Sculpture conservation is actually a pretty underrepresented field," says French. "So it's going to Virginia, where there are some of the best sculpture conservators in the world. ... It's a huge, monumental piece, and they work on monumental pieces all the time, so they need a really big space. It was just the best fit for it to go there and be restored, not only by the best people that can do it, but also the facility that they have there is just top notch."
The piece was disassembled and packed off to Virginia in November. Pyramid Hill is targeting April for its return and reinstallation. The plan is to have an unveiling on International Sculpture Day, April 15, 2026.
French notes Pyramid Hill is nearing its 30th anniversary, and the 25th anniversary of Cincinnati Story being at the art park. That made now a good time to undertake the restoration.
"Just leaving the sculpture to be? Yes, it looks really beautiful, but it's not as the artist intended. We want to make sure that we're honoring George Sugarman and his vision for this piece, and bringing it back to life," she says. "It is kind of a historical landmark, too, because it's inspired by the waterways. So we want to be respectful of the history that the piece represents, and Sugarman's vision for it."
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