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Step Aside ‘Scary Lucy,’ A New Lucille Ball Statue Is Headed To Comedy Legend’s Hometown

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 06:47 PST, Jun 3, 2016

Lucille Ball will soon be seen in a more flattering light in her hometown of Celoron, New York. The late I Love Lucy star will be immortalized via a beautiful new statue that will replace the horrific bronze figure that currently sits in the Lucille Ball Memorial Park in Celoron. A new Lucille Ball statue has been commissioned, and it will be unveiled to the public during a special ceremony slated for Lucille Ball’s birthday on August 6, according to Yahoo News.

Carolyn D. Palmer was selected in a national competition of more than 60 artists to create the new Lucille Ball statue. Palmer has spent nine months working on the new life-size bronze depiction of the TV legend, and it will be a far cry from the “scary” Lucy statue that made headlines last year.

“I wanted to portray Lucy beautifully, glamorous with confidence, showing playful, whimsical movement. I wanted to bring forth Lucy’s spirit and joy,” Palmer told Yahoo News.

The artist spent hours researching Lucille Ball so he could get a feel for the late star’s movements. In addition to watching old episodes of Lucille Ball’s signature sitcom, I Love Lucy, Palmer had models pose in 1950s-style dresses. Still, Palmer said even the most skilled artist could have trouble getting the iconic actress’s likeness just right.

“You could get her proportions just right — her eyes, her nose, her mouth — and still say, ‘Where is Lucy?’ So I worked on moving some of the muscles around her features to really bring her out,” Palmer said.

The park’s original Lucille Ball statue, which was erected in 2009 by artist Dave Poulin, made headlines last year when photos of it went viral. While the 400-pound life-size bronze statue had long been called “Scary Lucy” and “Ugly Lucy” by locals and visitors, it received national attention thanks to a Facebook page devoted to getting rid of the monstrous-looking piece.

At the time, Celoron Mayor Scott Schrecengost told the local Post-Journal that he reached out to Poulin many times over the years with the request for him to recast the statue but was told the artist wanted $8,000 to $10,000 to do it. While other artists expressed interest in creating a new statue for a fraction of Poulin’s rate, the mayor said he had hoped the original sculptor “would stand behind his work enough to step up and fix it for free.”

And after the embarrassing controversy over the scary Lucille Ball statue, Poulin did offer to fix the piece for free. In a letter posted by the Hollywood Reporter, the artist apologized and admitted that the sculpture of Lucille Ball is “by far my most unsettling sculpture.”

Poulin said he would take full responsibility for the scary sculpture, and he explained that he never intended to disrespect the comedy legend. The artist also admitted he had been disappointed in the piece from the time he completed it in 2009.

“From the day of its installation, I have shared my disappointment in the final outcome and have always believed it to be by far my most unsettling sculpture, not befitting of Lucy’s beauty or my ability as a sculptor,” Poulin wrote. “Yes, in retrospect, it should have never been cast in bronze and made public, and I take complete ownership of that poor decision.”

The shamed artist promised to refurbish the statue at his own expense, saying he was “heartsick” over the controversy over the scary Celeron Lucy.

But Mayor Schrecengost had other plans. Not only did he reject Poulin’s offer to redo Scary Lucy, he put together an esteemed committee to select an artist to create a new statue. The mayor even made sure to bring in a representative who knew Lucille Ball personally. The new Lucille Ball statue will be the centerpiece of a large celebration in honor of the beloved comedy star later this summer.

As for that other Lucille Ball statue, Schrecengost said the “Scary Lucy” will most likely stay in the Celeron park because it has become a tourist attraction now.

“It put Celoron back on the map,” the mayor admitted to Yahoo News. “It’s kind of iconic now. It’s part of our history…. It’s been quite a roller coaster ride since day one.”

Take a look at the video below for more on the scary Lucille Ball statue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VURIU2uORQ

[Photo by Keystone/Getty Images]

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