2000 Achievement Award Winners

First Place Winners

Patriots’ Trail Girl Scout Council Troop 2112, Framingham, Massachusetts, earned first place honors for their imaginative projects to share their enthusiasm for their town’s sculpture, The Soldier (1872) by Martin Milmore. The troop helped a woman sculpture conservator determine the health of the sculpture, worked with local Civil War re-enactors on the town’s "Belles and Bayonets" featuring period dance and costume, and marched in Framingham’s 300th anniversary parade, pulling a model of "their" statue. These activities were part of the troop’s work for their SOS! patch. In December 1999, the selectmen recognized the troop’s excellent citizenship. In December 2000, the troop earned this honor from national SOS! What’s in store for next December? SOS! will contribute the award funds to the Town of Framingham for the conservation of The Soldier on behalf of Troop 2112.

The City Parks Foundation (CPF) in New York City is being honored for their monumental efforts to preserve the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch (1889) by John Duncan, in Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn. Conservation of one the largest Civil War sculptures in the United States was a challenging task that filled the duration of 1999. By the Millennial New Year’s Eve, the majority of the project had been completed for 25,000-person celebration. CPF addressed more than just the immediate conservation of the arch; they also accounted for the maintenance for the next 20 years. The popularity of the project led to a documentary film for public television. The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch is merely a sample of the projects that CPF has completed since 1997, when their mission to raise the standards of care for their city’s outdoor sculpture was adopted. CPF plans to use their award to support of strategic planning and promotion of the monument’s programs.

Second Place Winners

The goal to conserve Rough Rider (1922) by Alexander Phimister Proctor was driven by the Theodore Roosevelt Association’s wish to commemorate the life of its subject, Theodore Roosevelt. Once the funds for its conservation were secured, additional funding was raised to promote his memory through brochures and a rededication ceremony with a speech from a Theodore Roosevelt scholar. The event culminated with the presentation of the Theodore Roosevelt Essay Contest 2000 award winners. By using the Rough Rider conservation project as a source of inspiration, students in Portland, Oregon, were able to expand their understanding of this American president and share their newfound knowledge with the public. Both the annual maintenance of the sculpture and the continuation of the Theodore Roosevelt Essay Contest will benefit from SOS! award.

Spearheaded by Friends of Francis Scott Key Monument, the citizens of Baltimore reclaimed Eutaw Place through the preservation of the Francis Scott Key Monument (1911) by Marius Mercie. According to Lynn Pellaton of Friends of Key Monument, by 1996, "few Baltimoreans, even if they knew there was such a monument, could tell you where it was located. Eutaw Place had become a security limit rather than a community gathering place." In 1999 "Picnic in the Park With Key" was organized to promote a positive image of the area, the significance of the monument, and the need for sculpture’s conservation. Over 200 Baltimoreans were present to listen to a barbershop quartet and neighborhood schoolchildren perform. Money from the SOS! grant will assist "Picnic in the Park with Key," the Key Poetry Festival, and the maintenance of the monument.

Honorable Mention

After conserving ten sculptures throughout Texas, the Texas Historical Commission produced the report The Texas Ten: Preserving the State’s Historic Outdoor Sculpture and the video "Maintaining a Heritage: Outdoor Sculpture in Texas." The literature and video were placed on their Web site and distributed to members of the community to educate the public on the conservation and maintenance of Texas outdoor sculpture. The Texas Historical Commission plans to use their award to amend their Web-based atlas to incorporate information gained through the statewide SOS! survey of Texas outdoor sculpture completed during the early 1990s.

In Iowa, the City of Oskaloosa revived interest in their community’s heritage through the conservation of Chief Mahaska (1909) by Sherry Edmundson Fry. After almost 90 years in existence, the sculpture of Chief Mahaska was in urgent need of care. The City of Oskaloosa stepped up to the challenge by starting a fundraising campaign based on the historical importance of the Native American, his Ioway tribe, the Edmundson family (who commissioned the sculpture), and the sculptor. With a new understanding of their heritage, the city celebrated the recently conserved sculpture in a rededication ceremony with both the Ioway Tribal Council and Chief Mahaska’s great-great-great-great-grandson present. The festivities included Native American Tribal dances by the Ioway Tribe, musical performances by the local high school and college bands, and vendors of traditional local crafts. The SOS! award will go towards supporting an annual event that will educate Oskaloosa citizens about Native American heritage.

Meredith Arms Bzdak and Douglas Petersen explore the history of New Jersey outdoor sculpture in Public Sculpture in New Jersey; Monuments to Collective Identity, published by the Rutgers University Press. Interest in this book developed from the SOS! survey that involved over 150 volunteers to inventory outdoor sculpture in the state. Ms. Bzdak addresses 100 of the most significant sculptures in New Jersey in separate essays that also explain the background information on artists, women, events, people, and ideas integral to the discussion of the art. More than 1,500 photographs were taken by Douglass Petersen to find the most suitable images to accompany the literature. The awardees will donate the Achievement Award to the conservation of Light Dispelling Darkness (1938) by Waylande Gregory.

Teacher James A. Percoco makes sculpture and U.S. history come to life! At West Springfield High School in Springfield, Virginia, the study of public monuments has been integrated into his U.S. history curriculum. Over the years, Mr. Percoco’s lessons have ranged from field trips to sculpture sites to a "Clay Day" where students designed their own monuments. Through his two books, A Passion for the Past: Creative Teaching of U.S. History and Divided We Stand: Teaching About Conflict in American History, and his lesson plan series Commemorative Sculpture in the United States, he has encouraged other teachers to incorporate sculpture into their teaching. This award will support cash prizes to students for designing sculpture for the National Civil Rights Memorial.