Geri Moulton worked tirelessly to create this beautiful addition to the University of South Alabama and to the city of Mobile
Photos of the park and Jo’s sculptures are found below the story.
Jo Hess’ fondest dream in her later years was to see a children’s sculpture park in Mobile. By happy coincidence, her good friends Geri and Gordon Moulton had the same dream, and they just happened to have the perfect setting for such a park, on the grounds of the University of South Alabama Children’s and Women’s Hospital.
Gordon Moulton, who at that time was President of the University, and his wife Geri Moulton, began making plans, and they worked tirelessly to bring the project to life. The park would later receive the official name of ‘Geri Moulton Children’s Park’.
The site where the sculptures would be is quite large, and has room for quite a few sculptures. Gordon, Geri, Jo, and others who were enthusiastic about the idea set to work on the project. The two main tasks were: First, to raise funds from donors to purchase sculptures for the park, and to provide for their ongoing care and maintenance. Second, to select works of art to fit with the theme of the park, and work out purchase arrangements with the artists.
V. Gordon Moulton, civic leader, and President of University of South Alabama 1998 – 2013
For her part, Jo set the ball rolling by donating an edition of ‘April’, a figure of a four-year old girl getting ready to plant flowers in her garden. The Jo Hess sculpture fund, made up of donations from friends and supporters, purchased another one of Jo’s sculptures, ‘Flora’, a life size woman kneeling in a garden setting. This would be the last ‘Flora’ of the limited edition, and after this the mold would be destroyed. Jo’s daughter, Linda Cooper, donated a third sculpture created by Jo, depicting a little girl at a ballet lesson, ‘First Plié’.
A fourth sculpture was donated by Jo’s son and daughter-in-law, Charles Jr. and Trudy Hess. This sculpture, called “One on One”, is the work of Ann LaRose, a dear friend of Jo’s. It depicts a little boy and his dog, playing tug-of-war with an old sock (see it in the photos below).
Having already lined up four sculptures as a starting point made it easier to elicit donations for more art. Some of the pieces came from families of people who had been patients in the hospital. Others came from individuals who believed that this park would add to the beauty of their beloved city of Mobile. Many people sent financial donations.
In October 2001, eleven months after Jo’s passing, her dream was finally realized. The University held a grand opening of the park and many visitors came to enjoy the beautiful new addition to the University and to Mobile.
The nvitations to the opening of the park were beautifully designed, using bright colors as a complement to the children’s park theme.
Please scroll down to see all the pictures.
Quite a few sculptures have been added since opening night, and the official name is now “Geri Moulton Children’s Park’. Click here to see more pictures, a map of the park and visitor information.