John Nickolai of Johnson Atelier examines the statue on May 19, just after inserting
it in a foundation and base created by the college’s stone masons, Jeff Gruver
and Roger Baker. |
Statue of college founder finds a new home on campus
It is fitting that the first statue to grace the Dickinson campus is a
bronze likeness of college founder Benjamin Rush.
Big Ben (all 7 feet, 568 pounds of
him) arrived on campus on May 19, and was quickly cloaked for his unveiling at Commencement
four days later. Formal dedication occurred during Alumni Weekend, June 11, precisely
100 years after the dedication of the original Rush statute, of which Dickinson’s
is a replica.
Rush, quill pen in hand, is strategically positioned to look upon Old West,
a building the living Rush could have seen.
The Rush statue was designed by renowned sculptor
Roland Hinton Perry, who also created the “Commonwealth” statue on the capital
dome in Harrisburg. President Theodore Roosevelt accepted the sculpture on June 11, 1904,
as a gift from the medical profession to the nation.
The original statue was lodged until
November in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the Department of the Navy’s Bureau
of Medicine and Surgery. Then a two-year effort succeeded in having the statue moved
to a foundry, where a replica could be cast. Trustee Woody Goldberg ’63 assisted
the college administration in gaining government permission, a task begun 43 years ago
by Trustee Walter Beach ’56. Also helpful were Chris
Music ’78 of the Medical Surgical Corps, Navy
historian Jan Herman and Gail Munro, Navy art curator.
The Rush statue was trucked to
Johnson Atelier, the foundry owned by sculptor Seward Johnson, in New Jersey. Artisans
spent about seven months preparing the original for recasting; creating six separate
rubber molds for the new statue, into which wax was poured; texturizing the wax so the
surface would resemble the original; pouring the bronze; and applying a traditional patina
to the new bronze.
While $15,000 covered the cost of creating the original statue, the
mold alone for the replica cost $10,000. The total cost for the new statue was underwritten
by trustee Walter Beach ’56 and his brother, Allen ’55.
The Rush statue was
one of the last large pieces to be cast at the 30-year-old atelier. Due to financial
constraints the foundry operation ceased this month. But other atelier functions, such
as digital modeling, painting and patina application continue.
“Everyone who saw
the Rush statue all the way through the process commented on how elegant, beautiful and
classical the sculpture is,” said John Franklin, client
representative for the atelier. “It was nice to finish the foundry’s work
on a good note.” •
—SK
For more on Benjamin Rush and the statue visit the
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