Step close to this beautiful garden sculpture of Martha and Edessa Warner and you will hear Edessa shyly asking her mother a question while playfully tugging on her mother’s skirt. Edessa is holding her doll and Martha holds a basket of roses… one rose has accidentally fallen to the ground at her feet.

This enchanting 5’ 2” sculpture is an inspired representation of Martha Warner, wife of Michigan Gov. Fred Warner and their five-year-old daughter Edessa. You will find it in the tranquil, beautiful gardens of the Warner Museum, Grand River Ave., west of Farmington Road.

The statue is the loving creation of Bernadette Zachara-Marcos, the 2002 Farmington Area Arts Commission Artist in Residence.

The sculpture required nearly nine months from concept to completion, explained Zachara-Marcos. “Working from 100-year-old pictures was really interesting,” she said. “And, it was truly delightful to meet Edessa’s daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter, all of whom attended the unveiling ceremony.”

Other works by Zachara-Marcos, a graduate of the Center for Creative Studies (1972), include a bust of Gov. Warner, which is located inside the Museum, a sculpture at Dunckel Middle School, the “Ring Around the Rosie” sculpture at Schoolcraft College and many private and public commissions.

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