Master Artist Enoch Kelly Haney with his sculpture "The Guardian."
In a blind judging, the Centennial Commission selected “The Guardian” as the statue to be placed on top of the State Capitol Dome.
June 01, 2001
Master Artist Enoch Kelly Haney guide's his son's work on the sculpture.
June 01, 2001
The head of the sculpture in full-sized clay mock-up.
Once the clay mock-up is complete, the sculpture will be sprayed with a rubber compound which will be peeled off and used to create a wax mold. The rubber forms are cradled in plaster to help keep their shape and a special blend of wax is poured into the molds and rotated by hand to coat the inside of the mold until the wax is the thickness of the finished bronze piece. Once the wax hardens, the rubber mold is removed and a porcelain ceramic material in a liquid state is sprayed on the outside and inside of the wax mold. Blow ports are inserted and the pieces are placed in a kiln and fired until the ceramic porcelain material hardens and the wax melts out to create a void where the molten bronze will be poured. The blow ports allow for air to escape as the void is filled with bronze.
Once the bronze cools, the ceramic porcelain is removed with hammers and chisels. After all the pieces are assembled around a stainless steel skeletal structure and welded together, the sculpture is buffed and polished, and a patina coating is added to prepare the sculpture for withstanding the elements.
Site provided by Frankfurt-Short-Bruza (FSB) Architects / Engineers of Record for the State Capitol Dome
