Sculptor Bill Wolfe, after seven months of spreading clay, then crafting it into details such as muscles and veins, will soon see his largest undertaking to date cast into bronze.
The West Terre Haute resident’s work is to be the centerpiece of the Carmel Clay Freedom Circle veterans memorial, part of a $900,000 project. Carmel is staging a flag-raising ceremony later this month as much of the memorial is in place.
The memorial, at the southwest corner of Third Avenue and City Center Drive in Carmel, will honor soldiers from the Revolutionary War through to the present-day conflict in Iraq. It includes the sculpture, a brick walkway and a semicircle of seven flags — the U.S. flag, five military flags and prisoner-of-war flag.
A separate reflecting pond, costing about $2.5 million, is near the memorial and blends into the site.
Wolfe, 50, has created two tall figures for the memorial.
The tallest is a woman, about 91/2 feet in height. She is helping a man, who is on one knee, to raise the U.S. flag, as each brace themselves against a strong wind. The two figures will rest on a base about 13 feet wide.
“I get satisfaction from working with people and the veterans,” Wolfe said of the sculpture. “That is the best part of it, as well as doing something that honors veterans.
“It’s the best of both worlds — I get to do my art and work with fascinating people. Veterans each have a fascinating story to tell,” Wolfe said. “It’s an honor and because of that, there is pressure then to do a good job.
“It’s a legacy that I leave and a legacy the veterans leave,” he said.
The flag, with three-dimensional stars, has been the hardest part of the project, Wolfe said, as the flag helps create a sense of motion and wind.
First Sgt. Paul Leturgez of the Robert R. Mosel U.S. Army Reserve Center in Terre Haute helped Wolfe with the project. He provided two soldiers, Sgt. Amy Holmes Beasley and Sgt. Sonny Pearman, to serve as models.
The two dressed in uniforms and traveled to Ohio in July, where a three-dimensional scan was made that Wolf used to help sculpt the final product, Leturgez said.
“We also provided accessories, such as canteens and pistol belts,” Leturgez said.
The project has created a sense of pride among the soldiers, he said.
“It’s pride because actual soldiers are being involved and I can say I knew the people used as models for this,” Leturgez said.
Beasley is back from a deployment in Iraq, while Pearman is prepared to be deployed, Leturgez said. Leturgez and others plan to help Wolfe move the figures Monday into a truck that will transport them to Sincerus Art Casting in Indianapolis, where the artwork will be cast in bronze.
Wolfe said the final product has generic faces, not exactly those of the modeling soldiers.
“When I first started working on the heads, I … started with the eyes. I was surprised how they looked when they were finished. The faces just kind of come to you,” Wolfe said.
It will take hundreds of molds to make the final product. Once Wolfe signs off on its assembly, final welds are made and smoothed, then the bronze sculpture is sandblasted and chemical coloring applied in different shades.
The bronze casting is to be complete by November, Wolfe said.
His father, Bill Wolfe Sr., did much of the labor of spreading clay out over the sculpture. The Wabash Valley Art Guild also helped spread clay out across the figures, saving weeks of work, Wolfe said.
Wolfe used a large welding shop in Clinton that belongs to his father-in-law, Gene Divan, to work on his sculpture. “I told him this may reach the ceiling and it was pretty close,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe’s work can be seen throughout Terre Haute, such as a Navy V-12 statue on the campus of Indiana State University; a statute for a Korean War vet in front of the Vigo County Courthouse; a small bronze fountain in front of an entrance to a funeral home at 25th Street and Wabash Avenue; and a bronze relief of baseball player Max Carey in front of the ISU football stadium.
Wolfe also made an 81/2-foot tall statue of Orville Wright that stands in Dayton, Ohio, at the Wright Brothers Museum, and a war memorial in Webster, Mass.
From 1973 to 1976, Wolfe studied art at ISU. Before focusing on his art, Wolfe was co-owner, then owner of Ideas Incorporated, which created logos for businesses such as Terre Haute Savings Bank and the former Larry Bird’s Boston Connection. The company also produced thousands of TV commercials.
Wolfe now focuses on creating life-size monuments.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
Discussion
Sculptor’s work to be focal point of veterans memorial
- Local & Bistate
-
-
Giant welcome home for Steve
Terre Haute was suddenly home to thousands of cheering New York Giants fans Friday as residents welcomed Super Bowl champion Steve Weatherford back home for a parade.
-
‘One for Terre Haute,’ Steve tells crowd at North
“This one was for Terre Haute,” native son Steve Weatherford proclaimed Friday as he shared his Super Bowl victory with the community that helped send him on the path to a world championship.
-
Hometown support vital to success, Weatherford says
Steve Weatherford said Friday he wouldn’t be celebrating a Giants’ Super Bowl victory if not for the support he’s received from his hometown, his parents and mentors in his life.
-
Craning for a rare glimpse
A visitor from the Far East has naturalists flying to Linton, hoping some good comes from one bird’s bad directions.
-
Vigo’s primary election filings complete
The slate is set for the May 8 primary election, with the race for three at-large seats on the Vigo County Council drawing the largest pool of candidates at the county level.
-
Documentary on electric vehicles plays Sunday at Rose
The rising popularity of electric vehicles and their impact on the world eco-system is the focus of a documentary, “Revenge of the Electric Car,” being presented at 3 p.m. Sunday in Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Hatfield Hall Theater.
-
Man gets 10-year sentence in battery case
A West Terre Haute man received a 10-year prison sentence Friday after pleading guilty to aggravated battery for beating a friend caught in bed with the man’s wife.
-
Asian hooded crane lands in Greene County wildlife area
Bird watchers are flocking to a southwestern Indiana wildlife area to try to catch a glimpse of a crane usually spotted only in Asia.
-
Slow drips: It’s maple syrup season in Indiana
More seasonal, colder temperatures will hit the Wabash Valley this weekend, which is ideal weather for maple syrup production, said Keith Ruble, superintendent of the Vigo County Parks and Recreation Department.
However, Ruble voices concern that this year’s maple syrup season may be short.
-
Downtown restaurant celebrates expansion
The streets of Terre Haute were chilly Thursday night, but for the glow of hot pasta inside Louise’s Pizzeria and Cafe.
-
Contract signed for new Y
Papers are signed and the ink is in place for a new YMCA to operate in Terre Haute.
-
City to impose $30 release fee on towed vehicles
The Terre Haute City Council voted without opposition Thursday to impose a new $30 release fee on vehicles towed and impounded by the police as part of a criminal investigation.
-
Valley educators cautious on Indiana’s ‘No Child’ waiver
Indiana is one of 10 states to receive a waiver from federal No Child Left Behind requirements.
-
Driver dies after Illinois school bus crash
“Brace yourself. Brace yourself,” Fay Pickering shouted to her students just before the school bus she was driving crossed U.S. 40 and landed in a ditch Thursday morning.
-
Trial date set for former WTH police chief
A July 23 trial date has been set for a former police chief of West Terre Haute accused of theft.
-
Motorcycle gang member pleads guilty in federal court
A member of an Indianapolis motorcycle gang who delivered methamphetamine to a Terre Haute dealer has pleaded guilty to drug charges in federal court.
-
July trial date set for mother charged with child neglect
A July 30 trial date has been set for a Terre Haute mother charged with neglecting and battering her toddler.
-
Business hosting SPPRAK fundraiser
Java Haute is hosting the latest fundraiser sponsored by SPPRAK — Special People Performing Random Acts of Kindness.
-
Valley high school cooking competition under way today
Clabber Girl Corp. and Gordon Food Services will host the fourth-annual High School Chef Competition, beginning today through Saturday, and again Feb. 18, in the Culinary Classroom at Clabber Girl.
- UPDATE: Marshall, Ill., school bus driver involved in accident dies; cause appears to be cardiac-related
-
Terre Haute road name game
What used to be called U.S. 40 from the Wabash River west through West Terre Haute to Interstate 70 needs to be renamed and, probably, get new street addresses, a Vigo County planner recommends.
-
MARK BENNETT: William Henry Harrison taught us how to campaign
William Henry Harrison is running for president, again.
It seems impossible, because today would be his 239th birthday, and America has never elected a deceased person to the Oval Office. -
Air National Guard cuts won’t hit 181st Intelligence Wing
The Air National Guard is taking the lion’s share of planned cuts announced last week by the U.S. Air Force. But no cuts are currently expected at Terre Haute’s 181st Intelligence Wing. In fact, the nation’s evolving defense strategy may spell growth at the local base.
-
Friends group takes over Ernie Pyle home in Dana
The western Indiana home in which renowned Hoosier journalist Ernie Pyle was born and an adjacent museum dedicated to preserving his legacy as a World War II correspondent have a new owner.
-
ISU rec center pool out of service while being repaired
Indiana State University is spending about $10,000 to repair a swimming pool at the Student Recreation Center, which opened in 2009.
-
Clinton man throws away, then recovers, $50,000 ticket
A Vermillion County man found himself in a scenario that strikes fear in the heart of Lottery players everywhere. He threw away a $50,000 winning ticket.
-
Show to feature talents of artists with disabilities
Artists whose disabilities have overshadowed their work get a chance to shine in the light of a prodigy this coming month.
-
Fort Wayne forester tells of damage
The emerald ash borer likely will cause as much as $8 million in damage to Fort Wayne’s ash trees by 2015, the city’s manager of forestry operations told a Terre Haute audience Tuesday.
-
Unclaimed assets now part of Goodwill auction site
Many of Indiana’s unclaimed assets are now on Goodwill’s online auction site, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced Tuesday.
-
Toyota to increase Highlander output in Indiana
Toyota will increase production of the Highlander mid-size SUV in late 2013 at the company’s Princeton, Indiana plant. Hybrid and export versions will be included. The project is expected to create about 400 new jobs at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana Inc.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-
Video of M.I.A's Obscene Halftime Gesture
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
Woman Pleads Guilty in 1987 Newborn Kidnap Case
Raw Video: Rough Seas Stop Oil Removal
Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion'
Test on Comforter in Powell Unit Shows Blood
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Androgynous Model Walks Runway As Man and Woman
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
Skaters Still Hold Hope for Dutch Marathon
First glimpse of Blue Ivy Carter
Absolute Lin-sanity
Angry Dad Shoots Teens Laptop
Hero Driver Saves Kids From Burning Bus
Funeral to be held for Powell boys
Kobe was 'rooting for Patriots' in Super Bowl
Sandusky on having to stay inside and people turning on him
Wookie Sensation
Woolly Mammoth Caught on Camera?
Sandusky makes a statement
Did JLo 'Assault' Marc Anthony on Camera?
Christie Brinkley's Runway Slip
Toddler forced to run half-naked in snow
Halle Wants to Leave the Country
Northern Lights shine above earth
Plane makes perfect belly landing
Kris Jenner New Face of Arousal Oils
