As a controversial left wing poet and journalist Turtiainen came to greater fame later in life. He had fought as an officer in the Winter War but refused to serve on in the following one and was sentenced to prison. His party comrades expected hymns of heroism but he chose a different approach to writing composing contemporary poems in colloquial Finnish. This earned him eventually acceptance from all levels of society and a memorial sculpture in curved aluminium by Raimo Utriainen in 1990.

Arvo Turtiainen (1904-1980) was a working-class poet. Pacifism and social questions played a very important role in his poems. This work by sculptor Raimo Utriainen was erected in 1990. It is located in Matti Helenius Park behind the Kallio Library. This abstract work is made of anodized aluminum and its pedestal of acid-resistant steel.