“The Young Darwin – Darwin the Student”

Arnold Schwarzenegger is taking up permanent residence in Columbus — or at least an 8-foot, 800-pound bronze sculpture of him is.

The sculpture, which depicts the actor and former California governor during his 1970s bodybuilding prime, will be unveiled March 2 in front of Veterans Memorial during the Arnold Sports Festival.

The W. Broad Street location was chosen because of Schwarzenegger’s — and his show’s — long history with the venue.

“Veterans Memorial has been doing the Arnold festival since its inception, and we did bodybuilding shows before that,” said John P. Raphael, chairman of the Vets board of trustees. “It’s been a very long, positive partnership here. With a permanent statue like that, we’ll probably have that event here for a long, long time. We feel it’s the right thing to do.”

The statue was sought by officials with Franklin County, which owns Veterans Memorial.

“The (county) commissioners brought this request to me,” said Jim Lorimer, the central Ohio businessman who founded the sports festival in 1989 with his longtime friend, Schwarzenegger. Lorimer also has been presenting bodybuilding shows at Vets since 1967.

“Arnold has been coming to Columbus since 1970. This thing really cements the Arnold Sports Festival here. There’s nobody been in that facility longer than we have.”

Last year, Schwarzenegger hired an Oregon foundry to cast two of the sculptures, which are based on a 22-inch prototype created in 1980 by Idaho artist Ralph Crawford. The same sculpture is used as the model for the Arnold Classic trophy, given to the winner of the bodybuilding contest that is the basis for the sports festival.

Schwarzenegger unveiled the first sculpture on Oct. 7, in Thal, Austria, at his childhood home, which has been converted into a museum telling the story of his life.

The Columbus statue, which will be lighted, will be set somewhere on the west side of the concrete stairs that lead up to Vets, but east of the rotunda, on Broad Street.

The statue was donated to Veterans Memorial by Dr. Robert Goldman, president emeritus of the National Academy of Sports Medicine, on behalf of the International Sports Hall of Fame, which will induct Schwarzenegger into its first class at the 2012 Arnold Sports Festival.

Goldman said it took “about half a second” to decide to sponsor the statue. “It’s completely deserving. … That statue of Christopher Columbus is right down the block, so I guess he’s in pretty good company.”

Veterans Memorial is an important place for both Schwarzenegger and his old sport, said Brent LaLonde, a spokesman for Lorimer and the festival, who compared Vets to one of the shrines of the NFL. “It’s the Lambeau Field of bodybuilding,” he said, referring to the storied home of the Green Bay Packers.

In 1970, Schwarzenegger made his first visit to Columbus to compete in the Mr. World contest at Veterans Memorial, and not only beat Cuban-born bodybuilding legend Sergio Olivia for the first time, but also met and became fast friends with Lorimer.

The two men began the Arnold Sports Festival as a one-day bodybuilding competition.

Today, the event is the largest multisport festival in the nation, bringing in 18,000 athletes to compete in 45 sports, as well as 175,000 attendees. Last year, the event brought $42.4 million in visitor spending into Columbus, said Scott Peacock of Experience Columbus, the city’s convention and visitors bureau.

The sculpture “could be our Rocky statue, who knows?” Peacock said, referring to the monument immortalizing Sylvester Stallone’s character in the Rocky movies that stands at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “You would see people come to Columbus to check it out.”

“It will be a conversation piece,” Raphael said. “I would imagine people will be taking pictures next to it.”

Big Statues is releasing a limited-edition line of hand-sculpted, bronze sculptures, on a marble and walnut base.

The sculpture depicts the true essence of a Grizzly Bear fishing for a Steal Head fish, portraying the realistic action and movement of an actual bear.  The bear is elevated and supported by rocks and moving water also depicted in bronze.  Intertwined with the rocks and water are three fish, with immaculate detail, that portray the true imagery of this beautiful and unique glimpse of wildlife.

Only twenty-two sculptures have been hand sculpted and will be sold to private buyers located around the country.

The complete dimensions of each sculpture are 19 by 19 inches.

If you would like more information on how you can purchase these or other bronze works by Matt Glenn, contact big statues at 801-373-5540

“Eyebenches,” a pair of functional sculptures by Louise Bourgeois — among the most influential living artists — was placed in Lafayette Square in New Orleans on Monday. The eye-shaped metal sitting spots are the third sculptures installed as part of Michael Manjarris’ “Sculpture for New Orleans” project, an effort to bring world-class public art to the streets of the Crescent City.

Manjarris, a New Orleans native living in Texas, is a monumental sculptor in his own right. He views “Sculpture for New Orleans” as a way to help his hometown recover from the 2005 storm and flood.

Bourgeois’ “Eyebenches” joins “Me, Knife, Diamond, and Flower,” by James Surls, located outside the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and “Travelers” by Deborah Masters in Audubon Park, near St. Charles Avenue, that were installed in February. Works by Mark di Suvero and Alexander Calder are scheduled to follow.

In November 2011, Big Statues began production of a small series of bronze-statue awards to be given to companies that showed a long-term commitment to the National No-Tillage Conference and the no-till farmer. Syngenta Crop Protection and its advertising agency, Gibbs & Soell, were the first recipients of this statue for its 20-year involvement and sponsorship in the National No-Till Conference.

The 20^th-annual conference, organized by No-Till Farmer magazine and Lessiter Publications, was held Jan. 11-14 in St. Louis, Mo.

No Till Farmer and its sister publication, Conservation Tillage Guide, are properties of Brookfield, Wis.-based Lessiter Publications, which publishes several national magazines in the agriculture, equine and sports industries. The family-owned company celebrated its 30^th anniversary last year, and No-Till Farmer celebrated its 40^th anniversary in 2011.

No Till Farmer’s mission is to provide helpful tips and information for farmers interested in reducing tillage and improving the sustainability and profitability of their farms. Alice Musser, conference manager for Lessiter, commissioned Big Statues to sculpt “Oscar-like” miniature bronze sculpture awards to be given to sponsors demonstrating high levels of involvement and support with the NNTC.

The “No-Till Farmer” statue stands at 14 inches tall and is a bronze replicate of a farmer, kneeling in his crops, and holding a scoop of soil in his hands. The pose is inspired from an iconic front cover of Conservation Tillage Guide published in February 2011 — an image that is a perfect portrayal of the humble and dedicated workers in agricultural companies across America.

These bronze sculpture awards were presented Jan. 13, 2012 to Syngenta and Gibbs & Soell to show appreciation for their years of dedication and support for the conference. Lessiter Publications believes these statues will build pride and unity among organizations that are involved with the growth and success of no-till farming, and generate additional support for this effort.

Big Statues, located in Provo, Utah, is a custom bronze-sculpting company that serves clients throughout the world, and is honored to be able to create such noteworthy artwork with the wonderful people at Lessiter Publications.

With every piece of art, bronze sculptor Matt Glenn of Big Statues takes special care to recreate the individual spirit of a company and turns it into a tangible figure with amazing custom detail that can be appreciated by all.

The Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Big Spring Texas was renamed the George H. O’Brien, Jr., Department of Veterans Affairs, due to the provisions of the Veterans Health Care Facilities Capital Improvement Act passed by President Obama in October of 2011

George O’Brien, the person the newly renamed hospital is dedicated after, was raised in Big Spring, Texas and was a private in the US Marine Corps Reserve until he was called to active duty in 1951.  Later O’Brien became the city of Big Spring’s only Medal of Honor recipient directly for his courageous actions while fighting in the Vietnam War.

The re-dedication ceremony was held Wednesday afternoon, each member who attended received a memorial coin with the words, “George O’Brien, Jr. VA Medical Center” written on it as well as a picture of George O’Brien in combat gear.  The coins were created by Big Statues, a bronze sculpting company known nationwide for life-size sculptures, reliefs and custom plaques. 

Iva Jo Hanslik, the public affairs officer at VAMC said, “We’re excited that this has become a reality and we will be honored to recognize such a distinguished veteran who was raised in the Big Spring community.”

Big Statues is more than honored to work with the wonderful people in the Big Spring community and is honored to be able to create a little piece of artwork that will represent this large historical event for generations to come. Matt Glenn, sculpture at Big Statues said, “It is so great to know that everything we do at Big Statues helps others show appreciation for selfless acts of service.”

For more information about Big Statues, and the custom bronze sculptures of Matt Glenn, visit www.bigStatues.com

NEW YORK (AP) — When a young Aretha Franklin accompanied the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to churches in the early days of the civil rights movement, he usually made a special request for her to sing one song in particular: “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.”

On Aug. 28, when a memorial in his honor is dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, Franklin will again sing the song for her mentor and friend.

“I’m really looking forward to this moment. It’s going to be another great, great moment in American history, and in African-American history,” Franklin said in a phone interview Tuesday.

“It means as well, after so many years of traveling with him in the early ’60s at the advent of the civil rights movement, that again, many years later, I would perform in his honor and in tribute to him, and I’m really looking forward to that moment and singing one of his favorite songs, his most requested song by me,” she said.

Franklin, 69, was one of the early supporters of the campaign to honor the civil rights hero with a statue in the nation’s capital. She even headlined an all-star concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in 2007 to raise funds for the memorial, which has been years in the making.

“I just think that it is a nod to how far we have come, and what a tremendous spot for him to be him, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial on the mall. We’ve come a long way,” she said. “I think it’s tremendous.”

President Barack Obama, Stevie Wonder, Maya Angelou and many more are expected to participate in the dedication ceremony.

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Online:

http://www.dedicatethedream.org

Big Statues will begin the filming of a made-for-TV series about the dynamics and details of the daily operation of our office and creation of our bronze sculptures, plaques and reliefs.

Although the series is in the beginning stages the producers plan to focus on the family dynamics between “Mormon Art and Bronze” and “Big Statues.”  The two companies are owned by father and son and share an office space.  The premise of the show will also include featured bronze sculptures that are in the process of being created and will include a spotlight on the school, community or organization that is creating the piece of artwork.

Production for the series will begin the first week of February, the airing date and channel is to be announced.

Planning on creating a piece of bronze artwork with Big Statues in the future and would like to have your statue featured?  Email us with why your community should be featured on an upcoming episode.

After the 9/11 attacks, the federal government closed the Statue of Liberty National Monument, the symbol of a nation’s dreams and one of the city’s best-known and most-visited tourist attractions. Allowing people inside would be unsafe, the National Park Service said, because rescuers might not be able to get them out in an emergency.

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

The Statue of Liberty, seen on the day its crown reopened in 2009, will be shut down on Oct. 29, the day after the 125th anniversary of its dedication. It is expected to reopen in a year, after safety renovations.

Connect with @NYTMetro on Twitter for New York breaking news and headlines.

Three years later, the base, the pedestal and the observation deck were reopened after $6.7 million in improvements to fire and security systems. Five years after that, in 2009, the crown — and the 146 narrow steps to it — reopened on the Fourth of July.

Now the statue is closing again.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says it needs a $27.25 million renovation for additional safety improvements that he promised in 2009. Officials said the work, which is expected to take a year, could not begin sooner because they did not finish the planning and arrange the financing until a few months ago.

And, they added on Wednesday, they did not want the statue to be closed on the 125th anniversary of its dedication on Oct. 28. So they will shut it down the next day.

“It’s disappointing,” said Vince Swift, the president of the Statue of Liberty Club, a nonprofit group, “but if it has to be any length of time, I’m glad it’s only a year.”

David Luchsinger, the superintendent of the monument and of Ellis Island for the National Park Service, said that the vast majority of visitors do not bother with the climb inside the statue. “They’re going to get the exact same experience” while the statue is closed, he said, because Liberty Island will remain open while the work is going on.

Mr. Salazar called the renovations “a major step in bringing a 19th-century icon into the 21st century.” The Park Service said the project would involve updating the statue’s mechanical and electrical systems, along with its fire-suppression equipment. The two open staircases will be separated from each other,  and one will get walls, a plus for safety. The elevator that runs from the ground floor to the fifth floor will be replaced and will ascend and descend in a new, fire-resistant shaft.

“It’s safe now, but it will be so much safer when we’re done,” said Mr. Luchsinger, adding that he was “guardedly optimistic” that the work would be completed in time for the 126th anniversary in October 2012.

Mr. Luchsinger said he did not believe the closing would affect vendors who depend on the crowds, because Liberty Island would still be open. “Most folks just want to come over, walk around and get their picture taken,” he said.

Mike Burke, a vice president and chief operating officer of Statue Cruises, which operates ferries from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan and Liberty State Park in Jersey City, echoed that idea, saying the crowds would not thin out — if what is happening to the statue is described a certain way.

“It’s a restriction, not a closing,” he said. “We are concerned people will not hear the correct message, and they’ll focus on the word ‘close.’ The operative word to not use — please, please, please — is close. They’re going to restrict access to the statue’s pedestal and the interior. That’s the only change. Everything on Liberty Island outside of the statue is unaffected. There will be no scaffolding and very little interruption of activity.”

But some tourists disagreed. Briana Ezray, 19, of Sacramento, said the statue just would not be the same without full access.

“You can see pictures from the outside all the time,” she said after visiting the statue. “The inside is something you can only experience here.”

Like Mr. Swift of the State of Liberty Club, Fernando Riano, who dresses in a Statue of Liberty outfit as a street performer near Battery Park, said he was disappointed about the construction. Since coming to the United States from Colombia in the 1990s, he said, he has felt a special connection to the statue. Since becoming a citizen in 2005, he said, he has taken pride in watching the crowds intent on going inside the famous monument they had seen only in photographs or on television.

“The first time I came, I was so happy to see the statue,” he said. “This is the symbol of liberty. Everybody dreams of seeing the statue.”

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