'Uncommon Friends': Learn about iconic Fort Myers sculpture and late artist D.J. Wilkins

North Fort Myers artist D.J. Wilkins died in October 2021. As the official Sculptor of Fort Myers — a title given to him in the '80s — the beret-wearing Wilkins created some of Fort Myers’ most popular statues and sculptures.

Those works include:

• The 2nd Regiment Infantry Colored Troops memorial in Centennial Park (now part of the mall area for the new Caloosa Sound Amphitheater)

• A family of Florida panthers on Monroe Street

• Sculptures of Henry Ford and Thomas and Mina Edison at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates.

• And the Iwo Jima Memorial in Cape Coral’s Eco Park on Veteran’s Parkway. Wilkins helped restore the statue, which was originally made by sculptor Felix de Weldon.

Wilkins’ “Uncommon Friends” is perhaps his best-known work in Southwest Florida. The Centennial Park sculpture depicts three real-life friends (and Fort Myers icons) on a camping trip in the Everglades: Inventor Thomas Edison and car maker Henry Ford (both part-time Fort Myers residents) and tire manufacturer Harvey Firestone.

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The plaque on the sculpture calls them "Fathers of the American Industrial 20th Century.”

In 1985, Fort Myers Mayor Art Hamel asked Wilkins to create a sculpture for Centennial Park after attending a dedication ceremony for Wilkins' sculpture of Ford at The Edison & Ford Winter Estates. The result was “Uncommon Friends.”

To ensure the sculpture’s accuracy, Wilkins spent a year researching and consulting with others on the project.

The larger-than-life figures of Edison, Ford and Firestone lounge around a campfire on a small island inside a 40-foot diameter pool. The pool is filled with Florida animals, including a mother gator and her five baby gators, a mother manatee and her calf, 16 fish, four floating lily pad groups and 12 frog fountainheads.

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The sculpture’s name was an homage to Wilkins’ late friend, James Newton, who was friends with all three people in the sculpture and wrote his book “Uncommon Friends” about that friendship.

Edison, Ford and Firestone were three of Fort Myers’ earliest and most famous winter residents. They started making camping trips to the Everglades in 1914, according to the City of Fort Myers’ online profile of the sculpture.

Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Email him at crunnells@gannett.com or connect on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1).

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: 'Uncommon Friends': More on Fort Myers sculpture, artist D.J. Wilkins