George-Ann Tognoni (1920–2008)

Winfield Scott Memorial

Located in the West Paseo entrance to Scottsdale Civic Center, the Winfield Scott Memorial was commissioned through the Scottsdale Public Art program with funding from private donations and the Scottsdale Art in Public Places fund to honor the distinguished couple Winfield and Helen Scott, the founders of Scottsdale. Based on a historic photograph, Winfield stands alongside “Old Maud” with Helen seated sidesaddle.

George-Ann Tognoni grew up on an Iowa farm and raised Shetland ponies as a child. She went to Minneapolis to pursue a fashion degree and worked in fashion manufacturing in Minneapolis and Los Angeles. When World War II began, she returned to the family farm as a hired hand. Tognoni was introduced to sculpture at the University of New Mexico during the war. In 1945, she joined the Red Cross and served in the Philippines. After raising five children, she returned to sculpture full-time. Tognoni died in 2008 at her home in Phoenix at the age of 88.

Tognoni’s best-known work, The Yearlings, is located just west of this sculpture at the entrance from the Old Town Scottsdale shopping area to Scottsdale Civic Center’s West Paseo.