It’s a Franklin-ism right up there with the colonial phone bank and that old guy who goes everywhere dressed up as Ben, whether he’s on the clock or not: Yes, Penny Franklin had served us for years with monumental kitsch. But the old gal ain’t what she used to be. From 1971 on, the six-foot acrylic sculpture covered with 80,000 pennies adorned the 4th and Arch area, prompting one and all to be like, “Holy wow, that has got to be the biggest piece of stoner art in a city utterly rife with the stuff.” As some of you may know, Penny hasn’t been around much lately; in 1996, according to one AP story, the sculpture “began to slouch precariously toward the Arch Street sidewalk it overlooks,” and was taken down. Ten plus years later, Penny’s finally being replaced. On October 5th at 10am, James Peniston’s “Keys To Community” will be dedicated. What is it? Why, a big bust of Franklin covered completely in keys, of course! Taking a cue from Ol’ Penny, Peniston collected more than 1,000 keys from school students and has applied them to an enormous bust of Franko, which will gaze upon all outside the fire station at 4th and Arch. And we have to say: If there’s not a keytar playing at the celebration party, we’ll be kind of bummed.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 9:18 am.