The Exodus Family

This multi-piece sculptural work was created by artist Edward Hogan to honor the slaves that attempted to cross the West Bottoms area to cross the river to the “free state” of Kansas and a new beginning. He used scrap metal and welded it together to represent the slave family unit where though not necessarily blood-related, groups formed families in order to survive. The scrap representation also extends to the nature of survival where the people and families found scraps of clothing and equipment and scraps of food along their long and arduous journey to freedom from the South and along the Lewis & Clark Trail.

There are four figures, a father, mother, son and daughter. Each figure ranges in height from five to seven feet tall. When the surrounding plants and grasses are high and getting a little wild, you can get the complete illusion of the family working their way slowly and hopefully undetected through tall grass towards the river. On the other hand, when the surrounding plants have been tended to or it is winter, you can see just how exposed these people were to detection and how dangerous it was for them to make this journey.