Turtle Boy?!!!???

**Hunny** Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:37 am

Show Us Things Where You Live!

In Worcester, Massachusetts, USA:
TURTLE BOY!

No matter which angle you look at this thing from,
it still looks like a boy screwing a turtle.

Turtle Boy?!!!??? 6999516075_0a6fffdea0

So what the hell were they thinking, and how could this statue still be up!? Meet the famous "turtle boy"! (It's famous around Worcester, Massachusetts). I've lived here a long time, and always accepted that perhaps my mind goes to the gutter when I look at this thing. But it looks as it looks. So what's the story? Well I did some checking.

— From The WORCESTER TELEGRAM —

“Phantom Critics Drive Him to Suicide” blared the headline in The New York Times a century ago.

Another follows: “…Kills Himself in Bronx Park on Day ‘the Voices' Set.”

And later, in smaller type, “Leaves Unfinished Statue.”

The Jan. 29, 1912, newspaper obituary describes the life and death of New York-based artist Charles Harvey, age 43. The unfinished statue he left behind was none other than the Burnside Fountain, known in Worcester as the “Turtle Boy.” Turtle Boy has been gracing (or is it cursing?) downtown Worcester for over a century. It turns out the statue was the product of a delusional mind.

On the morning of Jan. 28, 1912, in Bronx Park, students stumbled upon the body of a man lying face up in the grass. It was Mr. Harvey. His throat was cut. On the ground nearby lay two razors. “Harvey was bitterly despondent about his work and so sensitive to the slightest criticism that any expression of adverse opinion caused him genuine suffering,” the artist's obituary read. “His friends and fellow craftsmen, however, were most favorably impressed with the unfinished work that stands in his studio. It is the life-size figure of a crouching boy, holding a tortoise.” The obituary continued: “But the work of his hands dissatisfied him and, as he tried to make headway, he was haunted by the voices of unseen persona, who bade him take his life. The command was explicit. The voices, from which he could not escape, directed relentlessly that he lay aside his tools and kill himself.”

The half-ton bronze sculpture, depicting a nude boy holding a hawksbill sea turtle just below his knees, would later be completed by sculptor Sherry Edmundson Fry.

“I heard from him about a week ago, and there was nothing in his letter to indicate that he was despondent or was contemplating suicide,” his brother, John J. Harvey, was quoted by The New York Times after Charles Harvey's death. “I had known for some time that he was engaged in what he hoped would be a masterpiece, which I understood was for some building in Worcester. As far as I knew it was progressing satisfactorily.”

“Turtle Boy” was bequeathed to the city by Harriet Burnside in honor of her father, Samuel Burnside, a prominent Worcester lawyer. Originally placed in Central Square, it was moved to the Common facing Salem Square in 1969. It was stolen in May 1970, returned later that year, placed back on its pedestal in 1972, toppled over in 2004, and placed back on its pedestal later in the year.

Kristina Wilson, associate professor at Clark University, said no matter what one might read into the statue, she thinks “Turtle Boy” is supposed to be about innocence, joy and rebirth. Noting that Mr. Harvey was trained at the American Academy in Rome, she said, “He is coming out of a tradition of sculpture and painting where the human figure is the apex of beauty, and how well you can capture that is the demonstration of your artistic talents.”

Out of curiosity, Ms. Wilson asked around campus about “Turtle Boy,” and one of her colleagues chimed in, “Oh, that's Worcester's monument to bestiality.” “It's unfortunate, because it really does look like something untoward is going on,” Ms. Wilson said. “The thing I always end up saying to my students is, ultimately, the category of whether or not it's art, that's really not something you can argue with. Whether it's good art or bad art is something else. I would say that this is not the best.” Still, as a monument, as a work of public art and as a piece of Worcester's quirky history, Ms. Wilson said, “Turtle Boy” deserves to be protected. Councilor Kathleen Toomey said she would love to see “Turtle Boy” restored and made a working fountain again, but it's going to require $60,000 that the city simply doesn't have.

Stuart Esty, owner of Dr. Gonzo's Uncommon Condiments, 122 Main St., is on a personal mission to turn the Burnside Fountain into a national icon. “I figure if Brussels can have the Manneken Pis, why isn't Worcester wrapping its head around and taking ownership of the ‘Turtle Boy'?” Mr. Esty asked, referring to the famous statue in Belgium of a naked little boy urinating into a fountain. “Why don't we have a ‘Turtle Boy' small bronze statue? Why not turn the old Paris Cinema into a ‘Turtle Boy' memorabilia place? Why am I the only person selling ‘Turtle Boy' postcards on the planet?”

Mr. Esty acknowledges that ‘Turtle Boy' is slightly disturbing. Then again, he said, a lot of things in life are slightly disturbing. “Turtle Boy” is one of the things that makes Worcester unique. “What I love about it is seeing people who may be seeing it for the first time,” Mr. Esty said. “It's always fun to see their different takes on it, folks taking photographs, people trying to mount it themselves.”

Cathy Walsh, owner of Sprout at 118A June St., said “Turtle Boy” invites people to interact with it. “There's something about ‘Turtle Boy' that he has a personality and approachability. To me that's the great thing about the ‘Turtle Boy.' ”

Worcester Arts Councilman Helen Beaumont said the city should do something special to celebrate the undeniably quirky and distinctive fountain. Like the little statue in Brussels, which is often dressed up, “Turtle Boy” “gets adorned with things from time to time, Mardi Gras beads. He sometimes has a scarf. Sometimes he has a snow hat on. There are people in the community who dress him up. We don't know who it is,” Ms. Beaumont said.

Claudia Snell, creator of the website worcesterturtleboy.com and a series of “Turtle Boy” postcards, said she would love to see a “Turtle Boy” parade. “It's definitely a piece of art, and it's a Worcester icon,” Ms. Snell said. “There are lots of cities that have statues that are humorous or cause discussion and they embrace them. And we embrace ours.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: These people are a bit delusional, aren't they.
Their suggestions would make us known as "the city that promotes
beastiality". And they want to parade this even. Wow. Okay.
Well perhaps we should also get a country singer to ride on the head
float and sing an original song called, "When A Boy Loves A Turtle"

"Greetings, from Worcester, Mass!"

Oh, and they want to make a visitor's center of the Paris Cinema??
The Paris Cinema is closed now, but it was one of those places
where men would pay a quarter to watch a movie while they
masturbate. Yea, that'd make a good place to sell post cards for
the turtle f***er monument.
eat popcrn

Give it to him, Turtle Boy!
Turtle Boy?!!!??? 6853412118_e7d56b362f_z

You know what would really make this statue come to life? Sound effects.
That turtle should go "rheeeeeeh!" every time you throw a quarter
in the pool.

Turtle Boy?!!!??? 6859485400_7d2eeacec1_z

Turtle Boy?!!!??? 6859485400_7d2eeacec1_z

Aaw, he looks upset. Well, you would be too, if your boy never called you.

______________________

ALSO KNOWN AS 'BURNSIDE FOUNTAIN'

Turtle Boy is actually a water fountain, if you step back and look at the whole thing.

Turtle Boy?!!!??? 6999666011_d337ebb864

Burnside Fountain is a drinking fountain at the southeast corner of Worcester Common in Worcester, Massachusetts. Intended to provide fresh water for people, horses and dogs, its pink granite watering trough and pedestal were designed by architect Henry Bacon, who later designed the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Atop its pedestal sits Boy with a Turtle, a bronze statue of a youth riding a hawksbill sea turtle, created by sculptor Charles Y. Harvey. The statue is affectionately nicknamed "Turtle Boy."

Harriett Burnside gave $5,000 to the city of Worcester in 1904 to create the drinking fountain. Originally, water poured from the turtle's mouth into the main trough, divided into four drinking basins for horses. On the opposite side, a lower trough provided water for dogs. Dedicated in memory of Burnside's father, the fountain began functioning in 1912.

In the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century, there was growing concern over the difficult lives of horses that provided transportation in cities. Philanthropists wishing to ease the burden of these animals provided public watering troughs. Some were simple, but others were works of art, of which the Burnside Fountain is an example.

"Turtle Boy" has become famous in popular culture because of bawdy insinuations about what it portrays. The half-ton statue was stolen in 1970, but eventually returned. Multiple attempts to purloin it have been foiled.

In the tradition of the Manneken Pis in Brussels, "Turtle Boy" is now a mascot for Worcester: a local music contest is named the Turtle Boy Music Award; a local brewer produces Turtle Boy Blueberry Ale, and the Turtle Boy Urban Gardeners, a group of volunteers, maintain the garden surrounding the fountain. In 2010 the Burnside Fountain was named one of WAAF's " 25 Greatest Places in Massachusetts." That same year, it was also nominated for "Worst Public Art in New England" by a regional Art blog.

A movement is underway to restore the piece as a functioning fountain.

**Bob Cobb** Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:39 am

Wow!

Hey, don't let that boy see this!

Turtle Boy?!!!??? The%20Tortoise%20and

**Hunny** Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:17 am

You can see the chain marks on the boy's leg, from when the statue was stolen (they winched it into a truck in the middle of the night).

It's worse than turtle sex though, they call their city "Worm Town".
(I can't imagine why anyone would want to see all this, run away
while you still can, but this is where i live if you're curious.

This guy drove around filming the neighborhood here...

In my opinion Worcester is a bit ugly, as cities go. There are much nicer ones than this. But it's kind of land-locked (out in the middle of the state), so Boston gets all the good stuff, and we get the folks who can't afford to live there, so they live out here and commute to work. That's all Worcester is: a "bedroom community". A cheap one because the location isn't great. ..Although we do have 12 colleges. That's something.

**Hunny** Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:10 am

Show us where you live!

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