ST. GEORGE – It was a reunion over a decade in the making when well-known local artist, L’Deane Trueblood, finally met the three girls who provided her with the inspiration for a bronze statue depicting them as youths.
On Saturday evening, Trueblood and the girls, Megan Dunn, Wendy Dunn and McKenzie Adams – along with their families – met in St. George Town Square in front of the statue entitled “playmates.”
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Videocast by Amber Green, St. George News
The reunion was put into motion when Trueblood presented her piece at the City’s 10th annual Art Around the Corner banquet and told the story of spotting the girls playing in Santa Clara.
“I was out driving in Santa Clara, it was morning,” Trueblood said, “I saw these three little girls walking down the sidewalk and I just put on the brakes and turned around and hopped out with my camera and started taking pictures.”
Trueblood held on to the photos for several years before doing anything with them but always knew that “they were going to terminate into a sculpture,” she said.
The resulting sculpture originally debuted in Santa Fe, N.M., said Trueblood, and was recently put on display in the St. George Town Square as part of the city’s Art Around the Corner outdoor art show.
Trueblood has cherished the inspiring photo for over ten years but it wasn’t until she presented her piece at the Art Around the Corner Banquet that she thought she might find the girls who inspired the piece.
Kasi Miller, who is in charge of the banquet, said that at the end of Trueblood’s presentation she held up the picture and “asked if anyone could help her find the girls.”
Miller snapped a photo of it with her phone and put it up on Instagram, and asked if anyone knew who the girls were, she said.
A few short hours later, Devanie Adams, McKenzie Adams’ mother, contacted Miller and said; “that’s my girl,” Miller said.
Devanie Adams recalls finding the photo on Instagram and reading the caption “asking if anybody knew these three girls,” she said.
After looking at it closer she realized that it was her daughter and two of her dear friends, Devanie Adams said.
The girls – now in their late teens – have no recollection of being photographed as children but were excited to discover they had been made into statues.
“It is super cool,” McKenzie Adams said, “I hope that I can track it and show my kids someday and say ‘hey that’s me.’”
“How many people get to say that they were made into statues,” said Megan Dunn.
“I was really surprised,” said Wendy Dunn “I am a statue, and I am bronze, and it is cool.”
The girls who are still friends to this day say the artist definitely captured their likeness.
“The statue makes total sense,” said Megan Dunn, “that is exactly what we would be doing, McKenzie would be holding our hands because me and Wendy are sisters and we wouldn’t be together … it’s just very us.”
As a gallery piece the sculpture has been very successful, said Trueblood.
“It touches people’s hearts,” Trueblood said, “these three little girls with the crazy hairdo’s.”
Trueblood never thought that she would ever meet the girls, believing them to be “three little angels walking down the sidewalk,” she said, but she is thrilled to be able to do so.
“It’s been very thrilling to me to meet the actual little girls,” said Trueblood, “and they are just as darling as they were when they were little.”
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L’Deane is my cousin and a very talented lady as one can see. This is a great story, but this sculpture is but one of many, many outstanding pieces by L’Deane.