© Sally Bjork

October I Spy

Rampant Unicorn

by Sally Bjork

posted 11/27/2009

"And then at last your myth will harden, become a statue in the garden."
--Ejner Jensen,
from Advice to a Unicorn

"This beautiful unicorn illustrates a...poem written by my former colleague, Professor Ejner Jensen," writes Gail Stander. Both the poem and sculpture, Rampant Unicorn by Berthold "Tex" Schiwetz, can be found "in the outdoor garden at the Michigan League," says Elaine Sims--"on the opposite side of the building from [Carl Milles's Sunday Morning in] Deep Waters," adds Barb Oliver, alluding to October's clue. Citing the U-M public sculpture web page, John Briegel says that Schiwetz assisted Milles in creating Deep Waters while studying at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills.

"I know this regal unicorn well," writes Laura Schieb, who enjoys photographing it. Aileen Schultz also knows it well--she volunteers as a docent at the League, where she lived and worked sixty-two years ago as a student. She adds, "tours of the League are available!"

Barb Oliver won our drawing and will receive a copy of Jonathan Marwil's History of Ann Arbor. Check the "Back Page" in our December issue for how to enter December's drawing.   

[Originally published in November, 2009.]