The afternoon sunlight glinted off two newly displayed statues at the Utah Capitol Wednesday featuring George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
The statues, valued at $170,000 combined, are on loan from the Monument of Americas display in Heber City for the next 18 months.
The sculptures are a product of hundreds of hours of work by Utah sculptors Steven Neal and Michael Hall, who crafted the Washington and Jefferson statues, respectively.
The men said they hope the statues provide insight and meaning into the heroism and humanism of the Founding Fathers.
Jefferson: ‘We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident’
The 1,400-pound statue of Jefferson depicts him sitting on a throne of books. One of Jefferson’s hands supports his head while the other pens the Declaration of Independence.
Hall said the setting intentionally reflects a notable component of Jefferson’s personality.
“Jefferson was a prolific reader who had a feverish appetite for books. In fact, he once said ‘I cannot live without books,’” Hall said in a news release. “So, with this knowledge, I decided to create a literal throne made of books, not a throne to symbolize high office but a throne to pay tribute to Jefferson’s love of learning and his quest for intelligence.”
The statue’s inspiration came in part from Hall’s personal admiration of the leader. Hall said Jefferson was “always a hero of mine” and Hall’s favorite book as a young boy was about the life of the nation’s third president.
“I read it so many times the cover fell apart,” Hall said, remembering the book.
Hall told the Deseret News he hopes the sculpture does “justice and honor to (Jefferson’s) legacy.”
“It is my hope that when people see this sculpture they will not only develop an appreciation for this remarkable former president, but also be inspired by his example when it comes to learning and, especially, to reading books,” said Hall on Wednesday as the sculptors watched Capitol grounds staff finished placing the artworks at the East entrance of the building.
Hall added that he hopes “young children will come climb on this, experience it and just enjoy it.” Hall even stabilized the Jefferson sculpture himself so it would not tip.
Washington: ‘Washington Praying At Valley Forge’
The 850-pound statue of George Washington portrays the leader on one knee with his hands clasped and eyes gazing towards heaven in prayer at Valley Forge.
Neal said he hopes the sculpture reminds visitors that Washington was “a great leader of tremendous courage, but he’s also a man of faith, and he fully believed in providence and providential protection.”
Neal created the Washington sculpture down to the detail. He visited Mount Vernon several times for inspiration and even crafted the buttons on Washington’s suit coat to match what would have been fashionable at the time.
The statue took Neal hundreds of hours to create. He started off by creating a miniature version and then scanned it and drilled a larger copy out of foam. Working with the foam version, he moved some pieces around, modeled it again, covered it with clay, welded it all together and then put patina on it to create the sculpture sitting outside the capitol.
“Without him, there was no America,” Neal told the Deseret News. “That’s why he’s so important and I think he should be displayed here.”
