Eighteen years ago, Neil Hadlock began casting bronzeworks under a lean-to next to his house.
But what began as a way of accommodating Hadlock's own pastime and that of a few other local artists is now much bigger - and so is the product.Hadlock's company, Wasatch Bronzeworks in Lehi, now employs 80 people and is one of the best-known foundries in the West. His foundry produces more than 1,000 pieces every year and has more than 200 clients nationwide.
"We have pieces from our foundry in virtually every state in the Union," said production manager Roger Hunt.
Many of the West's famous sculptors have their work cast at Wasatch Bronzeworks, including Grant Speed, Dennis Smith and Stanley Wanlass. Karl Momen, the Swedish artist who designed the Tree of Utah (the giant sculpture located about 20 miles east of Wendover on I-80), is another famous client of Wasatch Bronzeworks. Most church building signs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are produced at Wasatch Bronzeowrks. The statues found in front of American Savings and Loan offices are produced at Hadlock's foundry.
But if there is one particular aspect of Wasatch Bronzeworks that makes it better known than other foundries, it is the many famous "giant" bronzes that it has produced.
"There are other foundries, but none that have the scope that we do," Hunt said.
Perhaps the most famous bronze produced at Wasatch Bronzeworks is the Vietnam Memorial at the State Capitol in Salt Lake. Wasatch Bronzeworks also produced the Relief Society Tribute to Women statues in Nauvoo, Ill., the statue of Gen. Patrick Edward Connor at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City and the 15-foot-high, 34-foot-long dinosaur that stands in front of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History.
Giant bronzes that are in production, or will be soon, at Wasatch Bronzeworks include a 7-foot high sttaue of Philo T. Farnsworth that will go to Statutory Hall in Washington, D.C., a giant "Red Raider" mascot for Texas Tech, a Lewis and Clark memorial for the State of Oregon and a giant Emmy for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Production on the giant Emmy began in December and will be completed in May. When finished, the Emmy will stand 18 feet high and weigh about 4,000 pounds. The statue will be installed at The Academy, a new tourist complex opening this summer in North Hollywood, Calif.
"We're probably one of the few foundries in the country that can handle a job of this nature," said Paul Barron, Wasatch Bronzeworks vice president.
Taking a clay sculpture and casting it in bronze is a complicated process. First, steel armature is bulked up with plastic foam and wire to form the subject's basic shape. Then the subject is covered with clay and sculptured. After the clay hardens, liquid rubber is brush on the subject to form a mold. Plaster and hemp are added to the mold to strengthen it.
The rubber mold is then filled with liquid wax to make a wax sculpture. The wax sculpture is then covered with eight coats of slurry and sand. After drying, the wax is then removed from the slurry shell with hot steam. The shell is fired in a kiln and then filled with liquid bronze heated to 2,200 degree Fahrenheit. After cooling, the shell is chipped away and the bronze is treated with chemicals and heat to produce its color.
"When people look at a bronze they don't understand the process of getting from a clay sculpture to a bronze," Barron said. "There's almost as much art involved in getting the piece into bronze as there is in creating it."
The final step is to detail the bronze and fix anything that is damaged during production.
"Most people think that all editions of bronzes are the same, but they're not," Hunt said. "Each one has its own individual touch and that is part of the attraction of bronzes."