RALEIGH (Nov.5, 2008)—Who links Mount Rushmore with the first Tar Heel to fall in the Civil War and Gov. Charles B. Aycock? The answer is Gutzon Borglum, the distinguished American sculptor of four massive presidential busts and also of two monuments in Raleigh’s Capitol Square, the likenesses of Henry Lawson Wyatt and Gov. Aycock.
Conservators from the Borglum Historical Center in South Dakota will repair and clean the Wyatt and Aycock figures—at no charge to the State Capitol National Historic Landmark—beginning this week. In return, the Borglum Historic Center will obtain casts to reproduce the images for the Center’s sculpture collection, which is located less than a mile from Mount Rushmore.
PUBLIC EVENTS
Conservators will offer public talks each week in the Senate Chambers of the State Capitol. Foundry master Ron Cavalier, a consultant to the Borglum Historical Center, will outline the conservation process and explain specific details of the Raleigh statues on Sat., Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. Borglum Historical Center representatives Audrey and Howard Shaff will present a historical overview on Borglum’s time in North Carolina and explain how those experiences shaped his later work in the Black Hills carving the 60-foot-high heads of Presidents Lincoln, Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson on Mon., Nov.17 at 1 p.m. Both talks are free and open to the public.
CONSERVATION PROCESS
Meticulous restoration will begin with application of mild liquid detergents using fine bronze bristle brushes and bronze wool to remove an oxidized patina. For tougher spots, the conservators will apply fine mesh, non-abrasive glass beads to the statues under pressure. Next, each work will be carefully inspected for signs of damage and any necessary repairs will be made. The two statues will be coated with a rubber compound to form a mold. After the mold cures, the rubber will be removed and each mold sent to the Borglum Historic Center where casts will be made. The replica Wyatt and Aycock statues will be displayed alongside other examples of Borglum’s vast body of work.
The two statues will be cleaned again when the molds are removed. Finally, conservators will apply a new patina to each work that will match the original, along with a weather resistant protective coating.
The Wyatt monument was dedicated June 10, 1912 and the Aycock statue was unveiled March 31, 1924.
Though all the Capitol’s statues were carefully conserved in the early 1980s, some are again showing signs of weather, time, rain and pollutants that erode the protective coating and the patina of the bronze.
BORGLUM AND NORTH CAROLINA
Borglum is noted for his North Carolina sculpture located atop Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg National Military Park. The placement of the North Carolina monument at Gettysburg was the culmination of a long effort to honor Tar Heels who fell in July 1863. The 1913 General Assembly created the Gettysburg Battleground Commission with instructions to visit the field and suggest an appropriate site for a monument. Initial steps were taken and funds were raised by the United Daughters of the Confederacy but World War I intervened. With the inauguration of Governor Angus W. McLean in 1925, the project found a sympathetic ally. At the Chief Executive’s urging, the legislature matched the private funds with $50,000 in state money and an advisory committee selected Borglum. The North Carolina monument is widely acknowledged to be the finest on the battlefield and is a popular favorite. The work depicts Tar Heels who took part in the Pettigrew-Pickett charge, and was unveiled July 3, 1929.
Borglum Historic Center attracts those who want to learn more about the life and work of Borglum. In 2007, the Center contacted the State Capitol and offered to handle and fund on-site conservation of the two Borglum statues. A National Historic Landmark, the N.C. State Capitol is one of the finest and best-preserved examples of the Greek Revival style of architecture in the U.S. It features a domed rotunda and state senate and house chambers, meticulously restored to their 1840 appearance. Until 1888, its granite walls housed all of state government and the legislature met here until 1961. Today, the governor and his staff still occupy offices in the Capitol.
The State Capitol’s mission is to preserve and interpret the architecture, history, and functions of the 1840 Capitol building and Union Square where it is located. In downtown Raleigh, the State Capitol is bounded by Edenton, Salisbury, Morgan and Wilmington Streets. Free parking is available in state lots near the Capitol. For more information on the State Capitol call 919-733-4994 or go to http://www.nchistoricsites.org/capitol/default.htm.
Administered by the Division of State Historic Sites, the State Capitol is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. Join the Cultural Resources 2008 theme observance of “Telling Our Stories.” For more information, visit www.ncculture.com.