Sculptor from afar

Back in my hometown of Fort Wayne, Ind., my Brownie troop took a field trip to an art school. A professor there, Sufi Ahmad, was in the very act of sculpting this fantastic piece, "The Sandbaggers" (1983). So this work has always been dear to my heart. The subjects are local teenagers who helped the city "save itself" during a devastating flood in 1982.

This past March marked the 40th anniversary of the flood that made national news, prompted a visit from President Ronald Reagan, and was the subject of Pulitzer-prize winning reporting by one of my hometown papers. "The Sandbaggers" was unveiled in 1983 to honor the first anniversary of the flood.

My cousin, Melissa Hitzemann, took these photos for an arts article she and I wrote in 2018 for the now-defunct Pique Magazine. Now poorly lit in Citizens Square, the sculpture stands in the doorway, against a wall, as you enter on your way to pay parking tickets.

There so much detail here!

Look closely to see Sufi himself standing on the porch of his own house. Two of his children are also in the sculpture in the foreground. Sufi was from Pakistan, the son of a poet. I love that this man from afar became such a prominent Fort Wayne sculptor, someone who helped us see ourselves, as only an outsider can. His works are all over town and include busts of prominent Fort Wayners in the rotunda of the Wells Fargo Building.

The Flood of '82 made a huge impact on the community, although Fort Wayners don't make a big deal out of anniversaries like this. "Oh, it was just something that happened," a neighbor told me recently. Yet friends of mine at the time feared they would lose their homes as river waters rose, threatening to breach the sandbag walls. High schools advertised on local radio for students to lend a hand.

Sculptures have become controversial. This bas-relief has a unique theme: teenagers as heroes.

It deserves better lighting and a stronger narrative.