Special Friends

Leaning against a tree on 100 Main Street, a shirtless bronze boy gazes at a frog in his clapped hands.  His raised foot offers casual balance against the tree; his shorts and bare feet speak of his day’s adventure. Originally artist Carol Dunford-Jackman called the sculpture “Frog Boy” but the title Special Friends is closer to her intention. “I hope that my work portrays the joy I feel for life and the creation of the work”.

Carol Dunford-Jackman, a native of Provo, Utah, received her BA in Fine Art from Brigham Young University, with an emphasis on oil and watercolor. After raising five children she returned to BYU to study sculpture and discovered her passion. “My sculpture is an integral part of who I am”. She drew on her experience as a mother to achieve greater emotion in her work and began to focus on sculpting chiefly women and children. Carol has exhibited in many art shows winning the Purchase Award in the American Congress of Art and Design.  Recently, she was commissioned by Intermountain Health Care to sculpt a life-sized bronze of a Pink Lady and two children.  Her work is figurative, intended to capture intense personal emotion and sensitivity.

Special Friends was privately funded by “Harrington Art Partnership Piece for You” (H.A.P.P.Y) and was installed in 2011. The City’s Landscape architect, Mike Fulford, attached the sculpture to a Chinese Hackberry tree on Main Street with the clear intention of not harming the tree.  Gary and Nancy Harrington’s life-like find in the CODA Gallery, Palm Desert, speaks of childhood innocence and the wonder of friendship. A precious thought for each of us.

Jan Coleman-Knight