The Washington Historical Society will unveil a gift to the city Sunday that's part of the organization's ongoing efforts to celebrate and promote the city's bicentennial in 2025.
The gift is a life-sized bronze sculpture called "The Act of Giving." The sculpture depicts a young girl from the early 1900's handing an apple to a Shetland pony that represents one of the city's most historic and iconic businesses, the Heyl Pony Farm.
Giving is the operative word for the sculpture and unveiling, which will begin at 2 p.m. in Washington Park and include a program on the Heyl Pony Farm.
"The girl giving the apple to the pony reflects what we should be doing in our lives ... giving," said sculpture creator Jaci Willis, a well-known area artist.
"We enjoy giving back to the community," said Jewel Ward, the historical society's president.
Two murals done by the famous Walldogs in the historic downtown Washington square are among the other gifts the historical society has given the city for the bicentennial.
With the help of donors Sharon and John Amdall, the historical society commissioned the sculpture in 2021.
The sculpture is on land that was once part of the Heyl Pony Farm, across Lincoln Street from the tennis courts. The land was the first purchase by the new Washington Park District. It was purchased in 1969.
John Stromberger, the historical society's archivist, will be among the speakers in the program about the Heyl Pony Farm, which no longer operates. Its farmhouse and barns can still be seen along North Main Street just south of U.S. Route 24.
Stromberger said the pony in the sculpture was created from the exact measurements of King Larigo, called "America's Most Famous Shetland Pony," who lived at the Heyl Pony Farm home.
Born in 1907, King Larigo was bred, raised and for most of his life owned and exhibited by George Heyl.
"King Larigo died in 1929 and was buried under the stall in the barn where he was born. He left a legacy of almost 200 colts fathered and almost 900 first-place ribbons won," Stromberger said.
Once home to hundreds of ponies, the Heyl Pony Farm allowed any child in Washington to take home a pony for the summer as long as the horse received good care.
Willis' sculptures can be seen throughout the area including Bradley University, Harrison School in Peoria, Sterling Towers in Peoria and in Chillicothe. She's one of only a few women in America who have completed a life-sized bronze sculpture from start to finish.
A Peoria resident and adjunct professor at Bradley, Willis teamed with Fisher Stolz to do a large-scale bronze figure of former Bradley basketball coach A.J. Robertson at the university that was unveiled in 2012.
Willis also did a large-scale stainless steel and glass sculpture that can be seen on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.
