Veditz Memorial Sculpture Needed!

Wow, you made a wonderful topic!
Big, HUGE Yes, we need a FULL figured sculpture of George Veditz! He needs to be remembered because he stood up for ASL many years ago!
I’m so excited that you shared!

I 100 percent agreed with you!!!! We need Veditz statue so badly!!!! I hope to see it during my lifetime! I would be happy to donate $$$ if we all work together to make this happens! Thank you Amy for bringing this up!

Gary 🙂
http://www.garybdir.wordpress.com

Yes, it would be a wonderful to have a sculpture of George Veditzy at SCLL. Good idea it is very good place to see first step before getting around to look at SCLL!

Hi Amy and others,

Not only a bust or lifesize scuplture of Veditz is badly needed at SLCC (or elsewhere on/off campus) but more of our noteworthy deaf Elders at schools, programs, and churches everywhere! I agree with you here most definitely. Honoring, memoralizing, and sanctifying our Elders onto STONE is sorely needed to lift the spirit of the Deaf Community and inspire our future deaf (and hearing) children.

What held me thru your vlog was your facts on sculptures of deaf people. You mentioned a few – actually there are more – usually deaf founders of deaf schools/programs/churches – they are hidden and overlooked everywhere. More research will bring your (and our) Deaf hearts delighted. I had come across a few in my MDS 1 tour and other travels. Willard at ISD? Tilden, Estrella, Redmond at CSDF? What about Mabel Hubbard, eeek? I just can’t think of some unless I dig up my files! Good start of an important Veditz project I pray will HAPPEN!

Nevertheless – Please do vlog more if you find any other life sculptures of our deaf brothers and sisters. Adorable job you did here!

ck

Hi Charles!

Please, please do dig up your files to see if there are other sculptures of Deaf people, especially those you named them (Willard, Tilden, Estrella, Redmond, etc…) and do you have pictures of them?

It is time to re-discover and display them again! Its TIME!

Amy

An afterthought: I have changed my mind. I agree with you: I prefer a statue to a bust. I also want to see him sign in ASL — the way Thomas H. Gallaudet fingerpsells “A” to Alice Cogswell.

And, yes, I rather like your idea.

Within a hour since I read your request I dug up my files and books, I I found a few references to sculptures. One is Alice Cogswell statue at Missouri School for the Deaf – I suspect a replica of the one you mentioned at Asylum Street atop the hill in Hartford next to the site of the older ASD. One referred to 25 busts of people in history of deaf education destroyed during the WW2 bombing at Leipzig oral school in Germany. Bas-relief of Charles Thompson at Thompson Hall – deaf club in Minneapolis/St.Paul. Plaque and monument at Willard Park, site of older school in Indianapolis. Bust of Berthier at INJS, deaf school in Paris. Any busts in Chapel Hall in Gally that are of Deaf persons?

But I must concur that you, Amy, are right. Where are more sculptures prominently displayed at high-profile places like at Gallaudet, NTID, etc? SO FEW. Any of you at schools for the deaf or other places that know of sculptures of culturally deaf persons (not of Keller, Low, Beethoven, or the likes), please put down comments here so Amy and I can go look them up. The people at Gally archives might know more of some/few in existence.

Actually, we should have on Kendall Green a big STATUE of Laurent Clerc, the first deaf teacher in America! I have just been informed by a noted alumnus that GUAA asked alumni whom they would like to name the institute for. All of them voted to name Thomas H. Gallaudet. Most alumni at that time were “late-deafeed”. None had voted for Clerc! I feel that HMB should be renamed for Clerc because he taught the deaf for more than 45 years while Thomas Gallaudet resigned in order to work in the asylum after teaching at ASD for only 13 years. The history
of Gallaudet ought to be RE-written.

Yours for Gallaudet!

Fantastic idea! Ahead let set up for honor George Veditz!

Eyepoetic, please go and take the picture of the bust of Davila! Gather as much information about his bust please.

Charles, is it possible that someone can take pictures of these sculptures/monument/bas relief/busts of these people you have named?

Sculpture of Cogswell in Missouri School for the Deaf
Monument of Willard
Bas Relief of Charles Thompson
Bust of Berthier

I am more and more convinced that we need to gather as much information on sculptures of culturally Deaf people and perhaps create a website dedicating on this topic.

I want you to know that I am not ignoring portraits since there are lots of them. Sculptures seemed to give a greater impact and has its own significance.

We cannot allow to ‘hide’ these wonderful art pieces commemorating these important people. I tried to google about it, and there are not enough.

We need your help! If you know of one, go and take a picture of it. Gather as much information about this art piece, i.e. who, when, what, how and why…

Thanks!

Amy Cohen Efron

It’s a wonderful idea to create a website dedicating to this topic, so it keeps everyone in a loop until we arrive at the top! We can make it because…if there is a million of deafies, each one can donate a dollar that it will make a million dollars!
You agree?

Why Alice Cogswell is so famous? Help me to remember the history of Alice! Was she a first student to learn ASL from Thomas Gallaudet?

What happened to Alice? Did she have a good life?

GOOD IDEA, I support I move up add video tv show what he sign repeats

I favor Amy’s idea to suggest that George Vedtiz’s
statue will be sculptured alike the full figured Alice Cogswell. In the addition to the feedback, could Deaf Bilingual Coalition team sell the 6-inch tall figuerines of well-known deaf persons valued ASL in purpose to fundraising for Deaf Billingual Coalation?

To ask Chuck Baird, Deaf talented artist, if he could scuplture the orignal figurines which would be created in molding or casting. I believe you get involved in the Deaf community and would love to collect statuettes portrayed in sculpturing.

Visit
http://www.msd.k12.mo.us/SchoolInformation/MSD%20Bro1.pdf

Look back on a vlog/blog based on Portrait of SLCC.
http://www.savegallaudet.org/?p=81

White Ghost …….. how did you figure that out what worth for millons dollars ????

Davy

Yes this is a wonderful idea, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to a statue, we could use animation robots. For example, I went to an aviation museum in Maryland, there was an animation robot of the Wright Brothers (the first man to invent the airplane), he was moving and talking at the same time, the clothing/hat represented as to what he wore back then. The children were fascinated and watched him talk. We could do that for George Veditz signing his famous NAD speech preserving ASL and that would make a very big impact on people who come in. If you have been to Disney World and you see all the President men coming “alive” and they talk in their famous speeches. Why not we do that for our famous deaf people using sign language. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/attractionDetail?id=TheHallofPresidentsAttractionPage&bhcp=1

Also sculptures, oil paintings and statues would be a great idea — we would need to find talented artists to do the job. It would cost a lot of money to accomplish this but then it would be great for our future generation to appreciate what we have come in a long way for ASL/Deaf culture.

George Veditz statue is a great idea. We need to support Deaf artiists. Uzi Buzgalo lost to a hearing woman for an art piece for the new building in New Mexico School for the Deaf. It made me realize that we should be active in promoting Deaf arts at our schools.

It would be a great idea to support and hire Deaf artists to do various artworks at our Deaf schools. What a great way to display Deaf pride and culture!

It can be easily done by grassroots organizations or deaf organizations that can fund-raise money to hire a Deaf artist to create something beautiful for Deaf schools.

Super idea. Now question who can do that sculpturing? Anyone?

I agree we should have that. If $$ is an issue sure we can donate and help pay for materials etc. Why not have our own Gallaudet Art Department Students who are art majors make this? I think it’d be more special or a professional alumni artist?

Amy

Speaking as an artist, please realize that there is a LOT involved in creating a full figured bronze sculpture. Usually, the first step (obviously) is to contact a foundry that does the bronze casting and get an general idea of the cost involved in casting. (It’s the only way to do it if it is to be done properly) and this usually runs in the thousands.

A contract would have to be made with the selected sculptor (ideally, would be deaf as well). Most of the time the fee to the artist would be paid in segments, with a certain percentage at the onset of the contact signing. This is to cover the artist’s time, expenses and knowledge.

The artist would come up with several concepts using clay models for a committee board to approve (consensual agreement) before proceeding on with the final model. The clay sculpture model is just that – and will be completely worked out in details, etc. This is the one of the most time consuming process in the project.

Once again, the finished model would have to be approved before a mold is made of it. Once this is done, the model would have to be allowed to dry and be fired (OR in place of traditional clay, modeling (poly) clay can be used instead and does not require firing – it never dries out…. anyway I digress

Once the model is sent off to the foundry, a mold is made of the model, usually of a type of latex that preserves every single detail of the original model. This is done by building a plaster mold around the original done in halfs.. that is. two halfs of the model. Once done, clamps are affixed around the mold to hold in place and has a hold at the top where a solution is poured to created the latex mold. This is allowed to set and dry then the plaster molding is separated and the latex mold is peeled away, preserving the details of the original.

For a full sized sculpture, a technology is employed to this effect. Sytrofoam is sometimes used for this process using a digital photo of the original piece (taken from every angle), superimposed on the screen and with a large life- sized block of styrofoam, a laser beam is used to sculpt from the computerized model on the screen onto the form, creating in detail the full sized model. Sometimes the artist has to be there to supervise and to hand correct parts of the finished model before it is sent on to be cast into bronze. If I understand it right, the foam is cut into pieces and molds are made from the foam pieces – this is where the lost wax method comes in. Plaster and latex molds are clamped with liquid components made up of bronze and other materials to be poured into the hole provided and allowed to cool.

As you can see, I have only ‘scratched’ what is involved in this concept but it’s a well worth process from start to finish. Best of all, this is a permanent piece to last through the ages.

Just keep in mind that the bronze casting process is a very expensive procedure and would need a LOT of donations. 🙂

Also.. someone mentioned Douglas Tilden.. I have a book about him, telling about his early life, career and it’s pretty good reading. You can probably order it from Gallaudet bookstore if they have it in stock – that’s where I bought it several years ago. Also shows photos of his work. (he was based in SF, California or was that LA?) The author was Albronda (last name)

To those not familair with Douglas Tilden, he was an deaf sculptor who made his mark on the West coast in the 19th century. One of his massive sculptures survived the 1906 earthquake. He was an graduate of CSD (dont know which one)

also re: what veditz should sign in the statue

it would be cool to have him signing “cherish” – in the film he signed it with 2 hands over his heart and “defend”

those r the English words he typed up for his speech – u can see his transcript at:

http://blog.deafread.com/pote/2007/10/12/george-veditz-1861-1937/

i think a skilled sculptor could convey this motion from “cherish” to “defend” – it definitely could be done in hologram or in painting if another medium is chosen

mike olson (of Gallaudet Archives) gave a great presentation at the 150 years conference re: some of the sculptures on Kendall Green and how many of them were done by hearing artists. I believe most of the sculptures u show in your VLOG r by Hearing artists

the same is true of many schools for the Deaf – they often commission hearing artists to do large scale and expensive artwork for the school and dont invest in Deaf artists – sadly

From all I am learning about Veditz – i think hed be upset of a Deaf artist was not hired to make a representation of him – not because he was an extremist or a militant but rather because he always wanted to invest in Deafhood and Deaf people

It is said that Eleanor Roosevelt would only take interviews in the white house by female reporters – she wanted to give them this rare opportunity and invest in her kind

thanks again for raising this great idea

i too would gladly donate to this cause

peace

pdurr

PS to my post LOL

I will get in contact with a couple of artist friends I know around here who have done recent work in public sculptures (one a bust and another a full figure) and see if I can get an estimate on the costs involved. I also have contact with a person who is a art curator/co-ordinator who is also responsible for overseeing the process of a public sculpture’s creation (from selection of artist to making payments out of the funds destinated for the public sculpture) and get an idea there too.

YES, I agree with you, AMY!!!

Put the sculpture of Veditz on the first floor of SLCC right in the front of the entrance door to blow the visitors and encourage them to ignore and not to go into the speech/audiology area.

We need more deaf artists who can do that! Have sculpture of Veditz and Clerc or more on front of buildings or inside buildings are must! When I was at Gallaudet, I though there was something wrong with the Washburn Art Department because I was told that Gallaudet would not want to expand more art classes. They do not have sculpture classes (they used to have for a very short time). I was told because of insurance and materials were too expensive. Gary Myers of California is the best sculptor (not portrait), you can see his display (he donated)on Gallaudet campus, but he learned his skill from somewhere else (not deaf school).

Hello there folks,

This is such an inspiring topic! I’d love to offer my services as a sculptor and special effects artist.

I’m sure that I could create a full size bronze memorial sculpt for less than a million, I’d have to have all the details before I can quote though. I’m also available to create a lifelike, animated version if you’d like.

Please take moment to check out some of my work, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments!

Thanks people, and all the best!

Nate Courteau
http://www.courteausculpturestudio.com
n8_fx@yahoo.com