Sarah Palin Sculpture Finds Home On Chicago's South Side

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 18, 2012 4:00PM

Common wisdom holds that Sarah Palin will fade from the national spotlight if we only ignore her. So it's okay to blame us today for keeping her in the spotlight.

We'll share that blame with Chicago-based sculptor J. Taylor Wallace. who built a metal sculpture of the former Alaska governor two years ago. Wallace debuted the sculpture two years ago in Memphis. It now resides in the garden of the Bridgeport Art Center on Chicago's South Side.

The Palin sculpture, like its namesake, also breathes fire, but not in the form of thin skinned attacks at critics. Wallace's bust serves as a functioning stove. He told NBC Chicago his inspiration for building the sculpture was Palin interjecting herself into the debate over health care reform.

"I thought she was a distraction from what was important, and it was cathartic to spend three months doing it... it helped me out a lot."

When the sculpture is working as a stove, the smoke exits from the bun atop Palin's head.

To celebrate the Palin sculpture's new home and the opening of the Bridgeport Sculpture Garden, Bridgeport Art Center will roast a sucking pig in it Friday, April 20.