Sandra Jeakins (Singletary Sizemore)

Ok, Jack.  I enjoyed your covered bridges in Ohio.  You reminded me that Jim and I went to Iowa and saw The Bridges of Madison County. We visited the home where that movie was made and all of the bridges that were in the movie.  I hadn't thought about being there until you posted the covered bridges.   Looks like I will be on the hunt for those pictures now.  

Marvin Theobald

Photo posted for Terri affectionately known as Boo.

Bascule bridge across Chicago River in Chicago. Dave was involved in its construction.

Marvin Theobald

Wendy Wednesday is STATUES. Can't wait! Well maybe I can but it won't be easy.

MAX: Have you checked the status on your goal? I have!

Wendy Stephens (Cullen)

I have many many statue photos, but will attempt to put four here to start

This is on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong Harbour, and is a statue of Bruce Lee

Tony Angel is a sculptor who is Native American and does a lot of animals. These two ravens are at a resort at Icicle Creek in Washington

A favorite of mine, Rodin's Burghers of Calais.  This was taken in Rodin's garden in Paris, but there is one in Washington DC.

On a more light hearted note, this bathing beauty is in Fremantle, Australia, to the west of Perth

Jack Keefe

Four statues, all easily accessible and all iconic in their own regions. If you visit any of them, you way want to take advantage other the plentiful other photo opportunities close by.  

Blackhawk statue, near Oregon, Illinois, overlooks the Rock River. I'm hoping Mel can chime in on the connection  to the Withers Park fountain in Bloomington.

Alma Mater at the University of Illinois, Urbana. Both the Alma Mater and Blackhawk are works of Lorado Taft.

... and the Wiliam Oxley Thompson statue in front of the library at Ohio State University in Columbus. The library is also named for him. On a certain football saturday he can sometimes be seen holding a "Beat Michigan" sign. The statue is the work of Erwin Frey. 

Finally, General George Armstrong Custer can be found in Appalachia. This statue stands in New Rumley, Ohio, his birthplace. It is also a work of Erwin Frey.

David Brock

I think 'statues was the topic of the day.  A couple of shots--the first is Gene Autry and Champ at the Autry Museum of the west/ Los Angeles.  The second is Bevo, the longhorn  located at the train station, Dodge City, Ks.

Sandra Jeakins (Singletary Sizemore)

Terry (Max) Maxwell

I don't think this is my goal necessarily, but should the group's goal.  We needed to get to post #7946 and we passed it!  Keep up the good work.

David Long

Statue to the Polish People after the uprising against the communists

A Statue of Confucius in the Statue Gardens at the Overland Park Arboretum

Statue of Pope Saint John Paul II in front of his boyhood home in Poland

Wendy Stephens (Cullen)

Does anyone have a photo of the statue of Abe Lincoln in downtown Bloomington?  Would love to see it, if so.

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

Jack, your invitation entirely changed the direction I was going to take for STATUES, but I'm happy to oblige. Taft has been of special personal interest to me for years, as you will see.

Lorado Taft was the sculptor of the "Trotter Fountain" at Withers Park in Bloomington. His father taught at the U. of Illinois where Lorado graduated with a master's degree before spending 5 years Paris. When he returned to America, he was only 32 years old and landed in Chicago where Daniel Burnham put him in charge of all the sculpture for the Columbian Exposition in 1892. Afterwards, Taft kept his studio on the Midway Plaisance in Hyde Park and taught at the Art Institute. At the turn of the century, he established an art community he named The Eagle's Nest in Oregon, Illinois, which is the locaton of the "Eternal Indian" (aka Chief Black Hawk) in Jack's photo. There is too much to tell here, but some of you may find it of interest that Taft's daughter, Emily, married Paul Douglas, who became the U.S. Senator from Illinois. She herself entered politics and became our state's first Democratic female elected to the House of Representatives.

"Trotter Fountain" 1911   In 2013, I worked with Barb Lancaster, a Trotter family descendent, to hold a special memorial of its dedication. Several BHS classmates showed up for the event. For the next couple of years, Barb and I successfully fought with the city to have the sculpture cleaned and preserved. (Marv, Judy, Mylan, Jack, Jan, Annie and me)

"Solitude of the Soul" 1910   When working as a conservator at the Art Institute in the early 70s, I was in charge of cleaning this sculpture by Taft, which was encrusted with a half-century of grime and coal soot. It's a funny story, but I did it by making mud packs out of Kitty Litter, believe it or not. Holy S##t, that was 50 years ago.

"Great Lakes Fountain" 1913   Located in the garden of the Art Institute, this is my favorite Taft statue. When Lynn Allyn Young wrote her book "Beautiful Dreamer" about Taft, she asked to borrow some of the documents I had collected on this piece.

"Eternal Indian" 1911   This is a detail of the statue Jack posted. The scupture is made of cast concrete and stands 48 feet tall on top of a bluff at The Eagle's Nest. One of my neighbors started the Kickapoo Mud Creek Nature Conservancy in Oregon which led me to a meeting with Jan Stilson, another Taft biographer. In 2013, I invited Jan to promote her book at the Trotter event. Last year, she was the person who almost single-handedly raised the money to save this crumbling monument.

Thank you Jack. Guess I'll save the "Agora" by Magdalena Abakanowicz for another time.

Melvin (Mel) Theobald

Wendy, I don't know if there are others, but these two are there. One in front of the Courthouse and the other in front of the Consistory. (not my photos)

Wendy Stephens (Cullen)

Exactly the one I was imagining...the one at the courthouse.  I didn't know about the one at the Consistory.  Thanks!

Marvin Theobald

This is for Wendy - My 85 year old aunt from Florida was visting a couple of years ago and wanted her picture with Lincoln so I thought this was a fun shot to share even though Mel already satified your request.

Marvin Theobald

Does anyone remember this statue?

In our years growing up it was just inside the entrance to Withers Public Library. During a visit to the Bloomington Public Library in 2014 I noticed it sitting on the floor at the end of a book case and was astounded that such a special sculpture would be so badly treated. The more I looked at it the more familiar it seemed and then I remembered it from Withers. The library employee in charge of their art collection knew very little about its history except that it had been gifted to Withers by Clark Stewart and that until his death in 1951 he had visited the library regularly to clean and care for it, but nothing was known about its sculptor or its title. Mel and I were given permission to handle it to see if it was signed and it was. We researched the history of the artist and of Clark Stewart and found some fascinating history on the statue and the Clark family.

The artist, Pietro Barzanti (1841-1881), was a prominent sculptor in Florence, Italy and the sculpture title is “Love at the Fountain”. Archibald Stewart (1834-1899), the father of Clark visited Florence Italy in 1881and likely bought the statue during that trip bringing to his home in Randolph, IL. At some point well before his death, Clark gifted the statue to Withers Library. When Bloomington Public Library opened the statue was given little attention and was badly neglected. In 2014, the library management accepted my offer to build a stand for the statue and give it a more proper display. The base in the photo is made of oak and the statue is now located in the N.W. corner of the 2nd floor near the reading room.

Archibald Clark had a fascinating history. He was the first to complete four years of study and graduate from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1854. He went on to complete medical school as a physician in 1858 and enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 serving as the Regimental Surgeon in several battles including at Vicksburg during the Civil War. After the war, having seen much bloodshed, he abandoned practicing medicine and returned to farming in Randolph, later entering politics and served two terms in the Illinois State Legislature. Their homestead and family cemetery are in Randolph near Heyworth and make an interesting day trip from Bloomington on a quiet day.

Marvin Theobald

Kids playing on a mermaid statue in Puerto Vallarta Mexico (notice where she gets the most attention ).

Statue in Lucca Italy where Bloomington's Lucca Grille founders came from.

Beautiful display of horses in Las Colinas part of Irving, TX.

A bronze herd of long horn steers in Dallas, TX.

This is an incredibly life like and beautiful statue of Virgin Mary in a small church in Pistoia Italy.

One of my favorites is this statue on the tomb of Michael Angelo in the Basilica Santa Croce in Florence Italy demonstrating the extreme sadness of his death.

Marvin Theobald

Two more just for laughs!!!

There was a tragic accident when visiting the herd of steers in Dallas. Fortunatly I made a full recovery.

A rare photo of the model that posed for Rodin's statue The Thinker. (Reenactment along Grandview Dr in Peoria IL)

Marvin Theobald

I just realized we need a theme for Thursday so how about BIRDS . Anything that has to do with birds.

After that comes FREESTYLE FRIDAY.

Wendy Stephens (Cullen)

all the photos today are great!i

Love the photo of your Aunt and Abe, Marv.  
 

I remember the small marble sculpture in the Withers Library.  I spent a LOT of time in that Library.

David Long

Forgot one - my bad. Self explanatory. 

Jack Keefe

Iis it just my imagination or do statues defy focus more than other photo subjects?

Birds don't hold still so I'm almost destitute on this subject. You'll see. Look at these lame ducks.

Pelican Humor: Florida, 1984

Just ducky: Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, 1970

Normal, Illinois, 1984: This Cardinal looks like he's just been told the 2020 season is cancelled. 

Bloomington, 2018: This robin is angry. While I'm taking his picture, he's trying to guard the nest of baby robins behind me. Note the ruffled fathers on his head. 

And finally: a bird that would pose: Thanksgiving, 1969.

Wendy Stephens (Cullen)

I don't have a photo of an actual bird, but here is one of a raven cross stitch project I did.

David Long

South Africa's National Bird - The Blue Crane

All over the golf course in The Villages - The Sand Hill Crane

A Penguin Colony in South Africa

David Long

Wendy - That's beautiful.  Must have taken a long time to do.  Very intricate work.

David Long

This has absolutely nothing to do with today's theme, or probably any other theme, but I've been working on this.

This YouTube video began as 16mm film that was converted to VHS and then from VHS to digital.  I'm in too many of the video clips, but it was my dad taking the movie so please bear with me on this.  I hope you enjoy seeing the old high school track and some of the 'young' guys that are still hanging around together, albeit electronically.

Hope you're all safe and healthy.

Dave