Sculptor Working on Percheron Park Horse Receives Worldwide Acclaim Following Pope Blessing

Moorestown, NJ -- The sculptor who has been selected to create the horse statue for Percheron Park is enjoying worldwide recognition for a sculpture that was blessed by Pope Francis during his visit to Philadelphia in September.

More than a year ago, artist Joshua Koffman was selected by St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia to create the sculpture “Synagoga and Ecclesia in Our Time,” the Friends of Percheron Park said this weekend. After Pope Francis blessed the statue, Koffman has received worldwide recognition and admiration.

Koffman is still working on a statue of the horse, Diligence, for the park. Diligence was the prized Percheron stallion brought to the United States from France in 1839 by Moorestown native Edward Harris II to begin the improvement of American draft horses. The life-size horse sculpture will be the focus of Percheron Park in the center of Moorestown, at Main and High streets.

Although construction of the park has been delayed by the process of soil remediation at the site, which is a former gas station, Koffman has created a limited edition of solid bronze models of the statue to come.

A picture of Koffman among his herd of 10” Diligence horse models is attached to this post.

Information about the park and how to obtain an heirloom quality model is available on the website, www.percheronpark.org, under “news.”