ORLANDO, Fla. – Visitors to Lake Eola in downtown Orlando might just happen across what appears to be a giant woman half-buried in the grass near the park’s amphitheater.
This massive, limestone sculpture — dubbed the “Muse of Discovery” — is actually five separate sculptures arranged to appear as though the surrounding greenery is engulfing them.
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In all, the Muse spans around 40 feet long, and a small placard in front of the Muse shows that it was donated to the city as a commission in 2013 by Wayne M. Densch Charities.
“Sit in the hand of the Muse and discover your hidden potential as she whispers to you,” the placard reads.
And you can in fact sit in the statue’s hand. Quite comfortably, too.
While the sculpture was commissioned in 2013, it wouldn’t be until the next year that the Muse would be installed at Lake Eola.
The Muse was originally conceived of by Kentucky artist Meg White, who was one of seven artists selected by “See Art Orlando” — a partnership between the city and private donors to sponsor public art.
According to White, the sculpture is based on a similar statue called “The Awaking Muse,” though it also took influence from Native American mounds.
On her blog, White detailed the process from start to finish, from picking out the blocks of limestone at the quarry to the final installation in Orlando.
While creating the statue, she used power tools — such as angle grinders, die grinders, and sanders — to carve out the stone, as opposed to the traditional hammer and chisel.
Pieces of the statue had to be individually moved with cranes and trucks down to Orlando, where White directed crews on where to place them.
Several truckloads of dirt were then piled onto the sculpture and molded to appear like a woman’s body.
Afterward, an irrigation system was set up to keep the ground watered, and Asiatic Jasmine was planted as ground cover.
“I had one woman who came up to me when the earthwork had been done, but the ground cover had not been put on yet,” White told News 6. “She says, ‘I just think that that’s not appropriate.’ And I said, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ And she said, ‘She’s naked!’”
However, White added that the woman came back after the ground cover was placed, and she claimed it was “much better.”
While White chose the Jasmine to make it look pretty, it was eventually replaced with AstroTurf due to the number of people who went there.
“There were so many people on it, killing (the Jasmine). It was too popular,” she said.
Regardless, the Muse is still a mainstay at Lake Eola, and it’s not likely to go anywhere anytime soon.
Since the Muse’s erection at the park, White said she has worked on other sculptures for commissions. At the moment, she’s putting together a statue of a crouching child.
You can follow her projects by visiting her YouTube channel here.
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