By Abbey Salvemini
History gets a powerful rewrite at the Heckscher Museum of Art’s latest exhibition. “Emma Stebbins: Carving Out History” is a landmark installation that spotlights a pioneering neoclassical artist whose legacy has long been overlooked. Known for sculpting Central Park’s iconic Bethesda Fountain (immortalized in film and TV), Stebbins — a trailblazing female artist — was the first woman to receive a public art commission from New York City.
Yet despite her accomplishments, her name has largely vanished from the art world’s narrative.
Now Stebbins receives the recognition she has long deserved. “Carving Out History” firmly reestablishes her place at the forefront of 19th-century American sculpture. It explores Stebbins’s bold artistic vision, her barrier-breaking career, and her personal life — including her relationship with the renowned Shakespearean actress Charlotte Cushman at a time when such a relationship defied social norms.
Stebbins’ works focused on unprecedented imagery of laborers, incisive depictions of literary and biblical subjects and moving portrait busts of her chosen family. Her sculpture was celebrated in the press and sought after by collectors in the mid-19th century. Since then, however, Stebbins fell into relative obscurity.
Among the exhibit’s outstanding components, New York City comes to Long Island via an immersive Virtual Reality experience. Visitors can “walk around” Central Park’s iconic Bethesda Fountain, bringing Stebbins’s most celebrated work to life in an entirely new way.
A special VR station gives everyone the illusion that Bethesda Fountain is right in front of them in Heckscher Park — through the use of their phones — offering a striking, life-sized view of Stebbins’s most iconic creation. Photos and selfies are encouraged!
For many, this will be their first time learning the name behind the fountain — even if you’ve seen it countless times in person and on screen.
The exhibit title — “Carving Out History” — reflects both Stebbins’s sculptural practice and the curatorial team’s broader goal: to reclaim and reframe her place in the American canon. This first-of-its-kind exhibit — reshapes how we understand one of our most groundbreaking — and overlooked — artists.
“The exhibition itself is carving out a place for Stebbins’ story,” Chief Curator Karli Wurzelbacher says.
The Heckscher’s deep connection to the artist makes the venue especially significant. Museum founder August Heckscher had a family link to Stebbins — his uncle commissioned two of her major works, Commerce and Industry, which have been part of the museum’s collection for over a century.
Stebbins wasn’t just a woman succeeding in a male-dominated field — she also lived openly with her partner at a time when same-sex relationships were taboo. Their partnership was both romantic and deeply collaborative, and it informed much of Stebbins’s work and worldview.
They were “the power couple of their time,” according to Wurzelbacher.
Among the many highlights, Wurzelbacher points to Sandolphon, which captures the depth of Stebbins’s artistry. It depicts an archangel with incredible detail rendered in marble. The sculpture draws inspiration from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
As Wurzelbacher explains: “The line ‘the angel gathers the prayers where he stands, and they turn into flowers in his hands’ captures the heart of the work. She paints a vivid image of the archangel holding a garland of flowers — each bloom symbolizing the prayers of the people.”
One of the most significant outcomes of her research into Stebbins’s career has been the “discovery” of sculptures whose locations were previously unknown to scholars (one was found in the hallway of the Belfast Central Library!). Two significant works, The Lotus Eater (1863) and the aforementioned Sandalphon (1866), had been in a private collection for decades before being acquired by the museum. Both pieces underwent extensive conservation efforts, including cleaning their discolored marble surfaces and making careful repairs.
For curators and staff, this exhibition is not only a professional milestone — it’s personal.
“Even though we have a relatively small staff, we can still contribute to writing the story of American art history, and bringing these overlooked figures to the public is something we take very seriously,” Wurzelbacher shares.
Whether you’re familiar with these sculptures or someone encountering Stebbins for the first time, this exhibit invites you to look again — at a familiar fountain, at forgotten stories, and at the enduring power of carving out one’s place in history.
