Louisville Unearthed: In search of the 'Hubcap Lady'
The regal ‘Hubcap Lady’ stands in an out-of-the-way spot in Jeffersonville. She’s worth seeking out. (Photo by LuAnn Snawder/Flickr)
When I started driving many moons ago, I remember occasionally passing a strange statue along a railroad track in Jeffersonville. “What the heck is that thing?” is what I remember thinking, and then I would go about my business, forgetting the statue even existed – until the next time I happened to drive by.
And so it went, for a couple of decades.
Well, in recent years, I decided to double back and figure out just what the heck that weird statue actually was. It’s unique, to say the least – probably 20 feet tall, metal in the shape of a lithe woman accompanied by a huge balance scale. She has a flowing scarf or cape that give the illusion of wings, and she appears to be gazing into the sky while gently holding a flower in her right hand.
It’s strangely located in an industrial area just off 10th Street, one of the main drags through the small Indiana city (where I spent my first 11 years of life, as it were), next to the tracks, adjacent to a lumber yard and just across the street from a wastewater treatment plant. She’s hidden from view from 10th Street, unless you turn onto Dutch Lane and glance to your left as you cross the railroad tracks.
The Hubcap Lady is so nicknamed because she’s believed to be made of hunks of scrap metal, most being discarded hubcaps. The scale is sort of a companion work, essentially making the dual structures a permanent art installment which collectively is titled Winds of Change. They were erected in 1983 by the owner of a nearby metal working business.
According to a 2017 account in Jeffersonville’s The News Tribune, the company’s owner, Larry Myers, saw a young art student’s small model of Winds of Change and liked it so much that he decided to commission a large-scale version. To complete the work, he hired local artist Carl Elwanger. Oh, and Elwanger didn’t use hubcaps – he used new material provided by the metal shop for the statue, welding it together piece by piece.
The work is a tribute to the virtues and strength of all women. On a nearby wooden sign is an accompanying poem titled “The Lady” (which no doubt contributes to the statue’s nickname); it reads: “I am your mother/Yet I am a woman/Standing into the winds of change/Expected to be strong/Yet gentle/Expected to be better than good/Yet not reflect/That I know I am good. … Take my hand/We will stand together/Into the winds of change.”
And while one might assume the balance scale symbolizes justice, a closer look brings clarity. One side of the scale holds a rock that says "Commitments;" beneath it is a pyramid that reads "Always Too Much." The opposite scale balances with another rock that reads "Love," while under it is a pyramid that reads "Never Enough.”
It’s truly a touching piece of work, one worth the short drive to visit. Just watch out for those trains.
Every Friday, Louisville Unearthed will bring you an unusual fact, historical nugget, place, person, etc., that you may not know about our city.
The full art installment is titled Winds of Change. (Photo by Daniel Christadoss/Flickr)