MARCH 1, 2003
Smoke Signals
Veterans' Memorial Statue
17
A -
Nearly Complete - The West Valley Vet
erans' Memorial sculpture is in the final stages
of the casting process at the studios of Burning
Palace Bronze in Boring, Oregon.
A tentative date of late April has been set for
the sculpture's installation in Grand Ronde. Tribal
Veteran Steve Bobb was at the foundry on Thurs
day, February 13 to give final approval and sign
the base of the sculpture.
"I'm really happy with it," said Bobb. "I wouldn't
change a thing. The faces look good. It's ex
actly what we wanted."
Bobb, who sculpted the piece, walked 265 miles
from Table Rock in southern Oregon to Grand
Ronde in order to raise money for the memo
rial. During the lost wax casting process, a wax
copy of the original sculpture is made, like the
one shown above. The copy is then cut up and
coated with slurry, a cement-like substance which
when dry will form a hard shell around the wax.
The wax is burned out of the slurry mold, leav
ing an exact impression of the original sculp
ture. Molten bronze is poured into the slurry
mold, forming the final bronze sculpture. The
mold is then chipped and sandblasted off of the
hardened bronze and the pieces joined together
and finished to make a beautiful sculpture that
will endure for centuries to come.
The full size clay sculpture shown here (right)
will be cut up into 26 different molds for cast
ing. After the bronze is poured, the sections
will be reassembled and the entire sculpture will
be given a full color patina. It will then be trucked
to Grand Ronde to complete the Veterans' Me
morial. The memorial will be dedicated to all
Grand Ronde and Willamina area Veterans, both
Tribal and non-Tribal.
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Photos by Peta Tinda
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Artistic - Tribal artist
Steve Bobb puts his signa
ture in the soft clay on the
base of the memorial. The
signature will be a perma
nent part of the sculpture.
When finished, the full size
bronze figures will stand
over ten feet tall and weigh
over 20,000 pounds.
Bronze, a mixture of cop
per and tin, does not rust
and is one of the most
durable metals known to
man. Sculptures made of
bronze have lasted for
thousands of years.
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