Go to your local art museum; chances are you’re not going to see a sculpture of someone in a wheelchair. You have to travel far and wide – to a subway in NYC, to the FDR monument in Washington DC. A wheelchair sculpture isn’t just going to turn up at your local art gallery.

And the sculptures that do exist are quite something. A wheelchair is a symbol that can carry so much weight. Here are five amazing wheelchair sculptures from around the world.

FDR Monument

Franklin Delano Roosevelt used a wheelchair for the better part of his entire presidency, despite keeping it a secret from the American public (something he never would’ve been able to pull off in a modern day era of television).

To honor this amazing president, a monument was created for him in 1997, which included this bronze statue representing him in ALL his glory, wheelchair included, which is exactly the feeling this sculpture is meant to emanate. You can still feel this man’s strong presence despite the fact he isn’t standing.

London Paralympics Sculpture

This stunning bronze sculpture was commissioned to commemorate the Paralympics held in London in 2012. Titled simply “Wheelchair Athletics,” the sculpture was made by Pete Sherrard. It can be viewed at the Oxford’s Ashmoleon Museum in London, UK.

Bizarre Subway Wheelchair Sculpture

In June this year, some on the 4 train one morning while riding to work. It was a bizarre sculpture made of a wheelchair and a shopping cart, with a wheelchair as the “topper,” placed on an oversized shopping cart. Awesome.

And between the them is clothes, mops and crates. Apparently the guy who built this was passing out free Nutter Butter cookies to passengers on the train. The message of the sculpture is still unknown.

The Winged Wheelchair

Last fall in Springfield, Massachusetts, a new sculpture debuted to celebrate disability awareness. It looks like a wheelchair with wings, a “wheelchair pegasus” if you will, made of several small wheelchairs that gradually turn into bigger ones, all going up and 8 foot ramp. And the base of the sculpture is comprised of 100 crutches.

The designer, James kitchen, chose this design because he wanted to create a sense of upward movement. The sculpture can be seen inside Tower Square and was created for the Stavros Center for Independent Living.

Gene Bergeron Sculpture

This is awesome sculpture of a motorized scooter is of George Bergeron, who was the head of the MS Society in Windsor, Canada for several years. To view this sculpture in person, it is installed at the George Bergeron Healing Garden in Windsor, Canada.

I-80 Bike Bridge Sculpture

And this last a wheelchair sculpture made of fiberglass, steel and bronzecan be seen on Addison Street in Berkeley, California way up high overlooking Interstate 80 on the bike bridge , combined with a few other beautiful sculptures – a violinist, as scientist and activist – to honor the people who live in this area. The sculpture was created by Scott Donohue, who was commissioned to create 19 permanent public art projects in California.

It’s so cool to see a wheelchair on such a larger than life scale. It gives the chair a sense of authority, of deference, dare I say. I like it; I like it a lot.

Have I missed any? Let everyone know in the comments below.