Garden Trio

The wall mural is made of teakwood, hand rubbed with oil. Its theme is a quotation from Tennyson’s poem, The Flower: “Most can raise the flowers now, for all have got the seed.” The mural concerns itself with the concept of genetics, and its relation to knowledge and education. The central figure has both male and female elements. There are flowerlike elements on either side: the simple one is male and the ornate one, female. The artist refers to them as “totems.” Wheeler enlarged upon his conception of the sculpture: “The elements most suggestive and illustrative of peace are music and the family. For this reason I suggested the central figure as playing a harp; the scale with notes is both at the
right and left of this figure. The family is shown by the flowerlike figures, rounded for female, angular for male, and in varying sizes to indicate parents and children.”

Akron-Summit County Main Library west wall, the corridor between High Street Entrance and Popular Culture