Cleveland, Ohio: Unhappy Turtles

An unclothed toddler dangles two turtles painfully while trampling several others underfoot. It's public art from the early 1900s.

Address:: 11150 East Blvd, Cleveland, OH
Directions:: The statue stands to the right of the main entrance to the Cleveland Museum of Art, on the East Terrace. Life-size; easy to miss. East side of the city, on the west side of East Blvd two blocks north of US Hwy 322.
Admission:: Free

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Turtle Baby.

Turtle Baby

"Turtle Baby" is a bronze sculpture by Edith Barretto Stevens Parsons that stands just outside of the Cleveland Museum of Art. I suppose that one interpretation of the sculpture could be a study in the joy and innocence of youth. However, to me, "Turtle Baby" looks like a malevolently grinning, psychopathic toddler who enjoys abusing turtles. The kid holds one turtle by the tail, another by a hind leg, and is standing on a sphere squishing at least four others.

[John Takao Collier, 07/31/2015]

The little turtle cruncher was sculpted by Parsons in the early 1900s. Several copies exist; this may be the original. See "Turtle Boy" in Worcester, MA, for more sculptural turtle abuse.