Jim Dessicino, a nationally renowned sculptor with a fleeting presence in Princeton, shaped his words in a way that perfectly reflected my feelings.
“I have been in serious shock over the whole thing and am still trying to come to terms with it,” Dessicino said.
“The whole thing,” that has Dessicino and myself so bent out of shape is the theft of Dessicino’s beautifully crafted Dohm Alley sculpture of street urchin Tom Dacre, the hero of William Blake’s poem, “The Chimney Sweeper.”
The sculpture of young Tom Dacre, the orphan, who dreamt of finding two loving parents and a God at the top of a chimney shaft, was stolen on Oct. 29 from the public art exhibition in Dohm Alley (off of Nassau Street between Starbuck’s and Landau’s).
“It is embarrassing for Princeton residents that all this happened in a town with an embarrassment of riches,” added Peter Soderman, the creative producer of the Dohm Alley exhibition. He indicated that Jim received no compensation whatsoever for his efforts.
I found out about the theft last week, when I was showing out-of-town friends Princeton’s outdoor attractions. Like the sculptor, my friends hail from Atlantic City, a socio-economic polar opposite of Princeton, Dessicino said.
An ad hoc art professor at Stockton University, Jim is nationally known as a sculptor who uses the human figure to explore the sociopolitical. His
sculptures often examine the relationship between art and national identity.
“I like to make sculptures that stick up for the down-trodden or those without a voice. It is so surreal that someone would steal a sculpture of a literary figure who symbolized those whose lives were stolen and ruined,” Dessicino said.
The theft was perpetrated either by someone who loved the sculpture and coveted it so much that they were unable to control their desires, or by an entitled prankster, carrying out a pre-Halloween trick, according to Dessicino.
“It was more than likely the latter. I would have happily negotiated a sale price with a true admirer of my work,” said Dessicino, who indicated that the artwork would have retailed for at least $6,000. “I spent most of the summer working (gratis) on the sculpture. It was cast on October 5th, installed on October 9th and then gone on October 29th,” said Dessicino, who was hoping for a more lasting presence in the Princeton community.
Dessicino donated all of his time and most of the materials towards creating the work of art because he was “taken” with the quality of the public space art exhibit and the enthusiasm and vision of Peter Soderman.
A locally renowned landscape designer, Soderman over the past several years has been one of the creative professionals responsible for two other Princeton public art installations, Quark Park and Writers’ Block.
Soderman came up with the vision that inspired Dessicino. Since the educational theme of the alley is the era of the Romantics, poet, painter, print-maker William Blake was a natural for inclusion in the Alley project, noted Soderman. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, William Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the visual arts of the Romantic Age.
But the specific way of representing William Blake in the Alley manifested itself serendipitously, said Soderman.
“I believe that when it comes to installation art, problems often lead to golden epiphanies…..[in this case,] the problem or the elephant in the Alley was an aluminum anathema – an unsightly utility box…. I chose the vertical tail pipe of the Industrial Revolution as metaphor to showcase William Blake’s poem ‘The Chimney Sweeper.’ The creative genius of Mike Mahoney, another principal in the Dohm Alley team, transformed the problem utility box into a chimney.”
But then came the challenge of creating a sculpture of Tom Dacre pulling himself up and out of the chimney. Peter reached out to his friends in the Philadelphia arts scene and came up with the name of Jim Dessicino.
“I was eager to do a piece of public art in Princeton, particularly since I already have a connection to Princeton through my mentor Titus Kaphar. Princeton University, in 2017, commissioned Mr. Kaphar to do a sculpture for the Princeton Slavery Project to confront the University’s historical connection to slavery. Mr. Kaphar is a sculptor whose works are meant to stimulate vital discussions around race and diversity. Mr. Kaphar’s ‘Impressions of Liberty’ dominated the front lawn of Maclean House where slave auctions once took place. The sculpture now has moved indoors to the Princeton University Art Museum, in order to prevent the corrosive effects of the weather.
“I was Kaphar’s first studio assistant,” said Dessicino, who was very honored and humbled by the opportunity to have a Dessicino work of art a couple blocks away from the “big guy’s famous installation.”
Neither Dessicino nor Soderman is optimistic that the little lost boy sculpture will ever be returned. Maybe the perpetrator, having no use for the sculpture, can be encouraged to return the sculpture – without fear of arrest – to a “safe house,” such as the Princeton University Art Museum.
In my opinion, the Dessicino sculpture including the background mural of industrial London/Manchester England (artists Anna Neis and Emma Briguad) is worthy of being in Princeton University Museum’s permanent collection – a perfect home for the little lost orphan boy Tom Dacre.
