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Kids Treating New Prospect Park Sculpture Like a Jungle Gym, Artist Says

 Artist Leonard Ursachi wants kids to interact with his sculpture "Fat Boy," not vandalize it.
Children Are Climbing All Over a Public Sculpture in Prospect Park
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PARK SLOPE — It's a sculpture, not a jungle gym.

The artist behind a new piece of public art in Prospect Park says kids are treating his work like their own personal playground, clambering atop the 9 1/2-foot-tall sculpture and even beating the artwork with a tree limb.

"I don't want to sound like a complainer — children should interact with the piece, " said sculptor Leonard Ursachi, whose sculpture, "Fat Boy," was installed in front of the park's Litchfield Villa on Prospect Park West near Fifth Street on Saturday.

"They can do whatever they want. They can hug it, they can touch it, but no climbing, no smashing,” added Ursachi.

Ursachi installed the sculpture on Saturday, then stuck around to watch the public get its first glimpse of the work. The piece, a giant head with an impish expression, quickly attracted attention.

Ursachi was pleased to see most people pausing to quietly regard the sculpture and peer into mirrored panels above the cherub's left eye and on the back of its head.

But some kids' enthusiastic embrace of his work put a few more gray hairs on his head, he said. A few children grabbed the cherub's protruding curls and tried to hoist themselves up. On Monday morning he was dismayed when he returned and found a tiny sneaker footprint on the sculpture.

The sculpture was carved out of Styrofoam and coated with Styrocrete, a "weatherproof, cementitious material," according to the Parks Department. It's strong, but not indestructible, and kids could injure themselves on the piece, Ursachi said.

The Parks Department will put up "No Climbing" signs this week at Ursachi's request, a Parks spokeswoman said.

He's hoping the No Climbing signs will encourage the audience to treat the sculpture with respect while still allowing viewers to get close to the work.

Ursachi doesn't want to put too much distance between the public and art. The artist grew up in northeastern Romania under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. He defected from Romania in 1980 and today he feels lucky to live in a society where the public is invited to mingle with art freely, he said.

“I think it’s a privilege to have public art where kids can interact with it,” Ursachi said. “Where I grew up, everything was on pedestals and high up. [Art was] imposing and scary. 'Fat Boy' is like a cherub and I think it makes kids intrigued and they want to play with it. Unfortunately, it’s a fine line. They can't climb on it."

“People should get close to it,” he added. “The whole idea is to look at yourself and question why it's there."

The work depicts a cherub, or "putto" — the nude, chubby boys often seen in Renaissance or Baroque artworks, according to the Parks Department. But the title also refers to the World War II atomic bombs Fat Man and Little Boy, "giving the sculpture twin references to Eros and war," Parks officials said in an announcement about the exhibit.

Ursachi, who works out of a studio in DUMBO, has many nieces and nephews but has no children of his own, he said.

“I enjoy kids very much,” Ursachi said. “[But] being an artist in the city for 25 years, it wasn’t possible. It’s luxury and I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

"Fat Boy" will be on view in Prospect Park until Nov. 10. There's a public reception to mark the work's arrival on May 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. An exhibit of Ursachi's drawings will be on display at the Brooklyn Public Library's main branch at Grand Army Plaza from June 12 to Sept. 25.