Colonel Nathaniel Rochester considered the city itself his monument and never wanted a statue created in his likeness, says artist Pepsy Kettavong. So the challenge was to create a statue of Rochester that acknowledges but does not glorify the man - the city's founder.

That's why Kettavong sculpted Rochester in a sitting position. Too big, and the statue dominates the space. Too small, and you can't see it from the street, he says.

Kettavong's sculpture of Rochester - a 10,000 pound, bronze likeness -will be unveiled in Nathaniel Square at South Avenue and Alexander Street on May 17. It was commissioned by the South Wedge Planning Committee.

"The founder of the city doesn't even have a street named for him, much less a statue," says Cynthia Howk of The Landmark Society.

The city narrowly missed getting a Nathaniel Rochester statue about 75 years ago, for the city's 100th birthday. Howk has seen photos of a plaster cast likeness depicting Rochester striding purposefully forward, she says. She doesn't know why that statue was never finished.

Kettavong worked on the new statue for four years, on and off, he says, at his temporary studio in the Susan B. Anthony neighborhood. His most recent public work is "Let's Have Tea," in Susan B. Anthony Square, featuring sculptures of Anthony and Frederick Douglass.

Kettavong is coy about his next project, but says it "will be one of the biggest public sculptures in Rochester history." It will be 45 to 50 feet tall, he says, and 40 feet in diameter.