Replacement for the missing, original bronze bust. Dedicated July 16, 2011. Sculpted, after photos of original, by Clevelander Michael Deming. Cast by Studio Foundry, Cleveland OH. Ignace Jan Paderewski 1860-1941
Padraig Pearse 1879-1916 Irish barrister, nationalist, poet, politician, and teacher. Donors: in memory of James and Anna Sweeney from their children James D Sweeney, Elaine A Koch, John W Sweeney, and Mary T Ryan.
The unusual black and white pebble frame around the marble is a reproduction of that found at a historic Serbian monastery
Percicles was a political and military leader in Athens during the height of its intellectual greatness. He supported arts and scholarship, nurturing Socrates, Euripedes, and Sophocles.
This bust of Serbian poet Petar Njegos is shown in its new location in the Serbian Cultural Garden
A 14th century poet and scholar, Petrarch is considered one of the fathers of the Renaissance. The carved stone medallion sits above a double shell fountain, along a terraced wall and parapet that frames the semi-circular stone court of the lower gardens.
Stone retaining wall on the level between East Blvd and MLK Jr. Drive. Pillars of Gediminas: The earliest symbol of Lithuania and a continuing symbol for Lithuania to this day. Specifically used on the basketball backboards for “Eurobasket 2011”. The trident shaped symbol has also appeared on flags, military equipment, heraldic signs, coins, and as […]
Pillar bearing marble plaque and rampant lions at northern entrance to the Garden. Pillar and sculpture by Frank L. Jiroush, dated 1935. Plaque is replacement added in 1997. Plaque text translation: Czech, Cultural Garden, Bohemia Moravia, Silesia, Homeland of Teachers, Statesmen Martyrs, Musicians and Artists, This Garden is dedicated, to our beloved Czech, parents who […]
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Poets’ Corner rock garden, north side of Garden, has six boulders, of various sizes, with insets where bronze plaques were installed and which bore “…inscriptions from Hebrew literature.” Two on the south facing slope and four on the north facing slope. Additionally, at the East Blvd entrance to the rock garden (separate from the main […]
Granite, in ground, granite plaque commemorating the April 1, 1939 planting of two linden trees on the southwest lawn strip. Found under the first tree to the left/south of the wall. Text reads: President and Mrs. Eduard Benes, of Czechoslovakia, planted these two linden trees, on April 1, 1939
Pride of a Nation” lists the anglicized names of 33 men and women, noted for their historical and cultural contributions to the Armenian nation as briefly stated next to each name. These important Armenians’ lives span history from antiquity to the 21st century, from the king Tigran the Great to the journalist Hrant Dink. The […]
This monumental wall symbolizes the wall of the Parthenon. It is inscribed with the names of Solon, Ictinus, Callicrates, Phidias, Aristophanes, Pericles, Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Homer, Praxiteles, Zeuxis, Apelles, Myron, Lysippus, Scopas, Sappho, Socrates, Anaxagoras, Aristotle, Plato, Aristarchus, Demosthenes, Pindar, Archimedes, Herodotus, Xenophon, Thucydides, Euclid, Hippocrates, Ptolemy, Pythagoras, Polycletus, and El Greco. Initial plans called […]
Born in Philadelphia in the 1780s, Rebecca Gratz was a philanthopist and educator. She worked on behalf of children, especially orphans, and women, founding organizations such as The Philadelphia Orphan Society (1815), The Female Association (1801) The Jewish Foster Home (1855), The Female Hebrew Benevolent Society (1819), and Hebrew Sunday School (1818).
September, 2010 marks the completion of the remodeling of the Estonian Garden’s central area. The original walkway has been replaced by a large, sandstone, boat-like planter surrounded by sandstone walks. The Baltic Sea is an important part of Estonian life and the boat suggests as much. At the boat’s stern is text incised in a […]
A marble fountain occupies a central place in the upper garden, symbolizing “the perennial flow of Roman culture.” (Lederer, Their Paths Are Peace.”
Fiberglass reproduction, from original plaster cast, of the missing bronze bust. Pillar text: Johan Ludvig Runeberg 1804-1877 National Poet of Finland Oi Maamme Suomi Synnyinmaa Our land, Finland. Our native land. O let her name ring clear. Finnish Central Committee. Cleveland Ohio
Replacement fiberglass bust, from original plaster cast, for the missing, original bronze bust. Pillar text: Johan Vilhelm Snellman 1805-1881 Philosopher Statesman Pioneer Nationalist Leader. Father of Finland’s Monetary System. Suomen Ruusu Temperace Association. Founded 1905. Finnish Garden built by contributions from Friends of the Finnish Central Committee. Cleveland Ohio 1964
2012 restoration of the Estonian Garden’s monument featuring a bronze replica of the original, and now missing, bronze flame at the center-top of the monument. Landscaping for the monument and Garden was completed redone in a new design with more extensive plantings around the monument, at the rear of the monument, on the bisected walk […]
Detail on the southeastern side of the Mother Teresa statue showing the rosary beads attached to her Missionaries of Charity sari which is practice is white with bright blue stripes. Here the stripe is incised along the bottom.
Samuel Beckett 1906-1989 Irish dramatist, poet and writer. Nobel prize for Literature. First postmodernist writer.
Seamus Heaney born 1939 Irish lecturer, poet and writer. 1995 Nobel Prize in literature. 2001 Golden Wreath of Poetry Donors: by William Bayne Summers, Sr. & Frances Holmes Summers.
Sean O’Casey 1880-1964 Irish dramatist and memoirist. His most controversial work, “The Plough and the Stars” was met with disapproval in 1926 when it opened at The Abbey Theater. O’Casey’s view of the Easter Uprising as an elitist war in direct conflict with the needs of the poor working class majority in Dublin was a […]
Sign at entrance to Serbian Cultural Garden Photo by: W. Jones
Dedicated on October 3, 2009 as a part of the re-dedication of the Irish Cultural Garden are seven granite pillars featuring seven of the most prominent Irish literary figures: Beckett, Joyce, O’Brien, O’Casey, Shaw, Synge and Yeats.
William Shakespeare is the most important writer of plays and dramatists in the English language. The Shakespeare Garden (now the British Garden) was dedicated on April 14th, 1916 on the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death as part of a celebration that stretched across the world. Cities and nations located within Britain’s sphere of colonial influence, […]
NATAN ANATOLY SHARANSKY 1948- Russian ‘refusenik’, Israeli politician, human rights advocate HENRIETTA SZOLD 18 **** Was incomplete. Information needs to be added for each person
African American Cultural Garden’s sign in front of the Garden’s plot on MLK Jr. Drive.
Gregorcic was a Slovenian writer of romantic and patriotic poems as well as a Roman Catholic priest. Photo by: Bill Jones
Plaque on the north pillar of the Shakespeare platform which bore a jar with flowers and ivy. Sir Tree was an English actor of reknown in the late 19th and early 20th century. Mainly stage but also in the earliest films of that period.
Plaque on the south pillar on the Shakespeare platform which marked the location of a jar planted with ivy and flowers by Sir Rabindranath Tagore in 1916; the “Shakespeare of India” according to popular legend at the time.
Smetana sits atop the frieze depicting skills that Czech immigrants brought to the United States
Southern face of the Dante sculpture’s base with excerpt from the Divine Comedy along with related small sculpture related to text. See separate text listing.
The central architectural feature of the Garden is a hexagonal Star of David, which gives shape to the landscape. In an October 11, 1942 story in the Plain-Dealer, Mary Hirshfeld described the garden, “From the pool stone paths radiate and form the Shield of David. At four of the six points which form the double […]
Mother Teresa statue detail of sandeled feet and the sculptors name
Stefan Furdek was the paster of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, was born in 1855 at Trstena, Slovakia. Bishop Gilmore of the Cleveland Diocese requested the young seminarian come to Cleveland, and he quickly became a leader of Cleveland’s Slovak community through his death in 1915. In addition, Furdek organized the First Catholic Slovak […]
“In this garden, sacred to the glories of Rome, the Italian War Veterans of Cleveland have placed this rock taken from the torn slopes of Monte Grappa, a lasting memorial to the mutual sacrifice that in the heroic moments of WWI bound America and Italy, effecting a bond of imperishable friendship in the fruitful work […]
Two smooth greyish stones from the garden of Daniel O’Connell, the “great emancipator” of Ireland, today have an appropriate and honored place in the Irish Cultural Garden of Rockefeller Park. The stones were presented to Mrs. Mary K. Duffy, president of the Irish Cultural Garden League, by N. R. Howard, editor of The News, as […]
The central feature of the Hungarian Cultural Garden is a wrought-iron gate, based on the Szekely Kapu in eastern Hungary. Usually, such gates are constructed of wood and decorated with brightly colored paint; the wrought-iron variation reflects the Cleveland context with its industrial orientation and craft traditions of Cleveland. In fact, one of the nation’s […]
“A tribute to Alfred, Lord Tennyson. England’s Poet-Laureate 1850-1892 on the 125th Anniversary of his birth. His fame is equal to his years, his praise is neither overdealt, no idly won. Dedicated, on behalf of the Daughters of the British Empire in Ohio. By Mrs. G.W. Mercer, State President August 6th, 1934” Found beneath a […]