Bowling Green priest’s sculpture memorializes

The commission was challenging: create a sculpture memorializing a beloved Bowling Green resident who had lost her battle with cancer. The sculptor, the Rev. Jim Quigley, did not disappoint, and the result was "Ferris's Chair," a whimsical rocking chair just for readers. On May 18, the sculpture was unveiled during a public dedication at the Bowling Green library.

Quigley, associate rector of Christ Church, Bowling Green, was already at work on a sculpture for the city's public library when library officials approached him about making the piece a memorial for the late Ferris Van Meter, a supporter and advocate for the library.

Inspiration for the work came from three basic sources, according to Quigley: Ferris's reputation as someone who loved to sit in a chair and read; the artist's experiences as a reader; and his awareness of the "traffic" ("people who love to read or be read to") that would be passing the outdoor sculpture, which is located in the library parking lot next to Christ Church, where he is associate rector.

Seven books that have long captured the imaginations of children-and the artist-are represented in the rocking chair: Goodnight Moon, The Little Engine that Could, The More You Know, The Wizard of Oz, The Giving Tree, James and the Giant Peach and Jumanji. Fittingly, a train forms the rocker with the words "I think I can, I think I can" gracing a boxcar. A book forms the seat, displaying a Roald Dahl quote: "So please oh please, we beg we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install a lovely bookshelf on the wall."