Downtown Huntington sculptures for fundraiser vandalized, stolen

HUNTINGTON, WV (WOWK) – Pullman Square in downtown Huntington is known for its local and chain restaurants built around a fountain and lined with public benches. Recently though, the addition of 48 new sculptures has brought a new attraction to the square.

The sculptures are part of the “Wild and Wonderful” collection through Marshall Health Network.

Alvaro Yemba, junior at St. Joseph’s Central High School, said one of his teachers is one of the 35 artists behind the sculptures. When Yemba heard that some sculptures had been vandalized over the last few weeks, it hit him on a personal level.

“It’s just disappointing to see how people want to just not really respect what we’ve done to help out the community in a way,” Yemba said.

He said his teacher, Mary Dempsey, worked hard on creating the deer sculpture as a token to her state, and he’s unhappy to hear that several sculptures have been vandalized, some to more extremes than others.

“She’s a very talented teacher. She’s been at our school for countless, many years. I had the privilege of having her last year. Fantastic teacher. So, I know that it was a project that they did at the grade school. They made this deer for the community to put up here at Pullman, but unfortunately, there have been people in the area who think it’s quite funny or amusing to vandalize such projects,” he said.

Yemba’s feelings are shared by many others in the community that are frustrated and angry about vandalism and even the alleged theft of one deer sculpture. Some called it “an atrocity” to local art.

“This weekend, we did have one that was stolen completely. It is MIA. We have no idea where it’s at. We do have an official police report in for that. We’re hoping we don’t have to press charges,” Kyle Coleman with Marshall Health Network said.

This issue comes down to more than just damaged artwork.

“This is a fundraiser for Hoops Family Children’s Hospital. So, when you mess with these, you are taking money away from the children’s hospital. Don’t do it. It’s not funny,” Coleman said. “I don’t know if people think it’s funny or they’re drunk while doing it. It’s not funny. We’re trying to do something good for Huntington, and you’re ruining it for us. We’ve actually heavily considered not doing this fundraiser again because so much goes into it.”

Coleman said the fundraiser for the Hoops Family Children’s Hospital can raise several thousand dollars per sculpture.

“We have money into these. Artists have time into these. Artists worked on these for four months to get them ready for the public. Like I said, taking them, we could potentially sell these for $5,000, $6,000, $7,000 if people really want that specific one. So stealing these is stealing directly from the children’s hospital.”

The sculptures will be auctioned off in October.

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