A Year in the Life of Rittenhouse Square

You might say that I grew up in the shadow of Rittenhouse Square. I spent a good part of my childhood there. My parent's house nearby made the Square quite accessible. My mother told me that I was first taken there in a pram in February of 1944. My older brother who used to like to tell tall stories told me that at one time the ocean had covered the Square and that pirates had their treasures there when the seas receded. He produced for me a pirate's map, which indicated a large treasure, buried right at the center of the Square.

Needles to say I never found it.
The Square was for me as a little child a source of endless surprises and fun. The flower show with its candied lemon sticks was something I looked forward to each year. In the warm months, I sailed my sailboat to far away shores in the Square's pond. Although over the years I have roamed far and wide from Philadelphia, the Square remains a familiar place to come back to, where friends and memories from the past are always waiting to be rediscovered.

This work was first shown at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in May 1995 as part of a larger show entitled: A Year in the Life of Rittenhouse Square.
Curated by Stephen Perloff