Bronze, More Than Third Place

Artwork is a cornerstone of our society; it lets us express ourselves or tell stories, whether as a hobby or a full-time job. No matter if the artist is brushing a canvas with oil paints, sculpting clay, or spray painting a van, art can be seen in all forms. Visitors comment often on the variety of pieces found at the Lewiston City Library. From the Chief Josephpaintings on the 2nd Floor to the rotating artwork by local artists in the niches above the adult collection, every piece of our art is important to us and none more so than the bronze works throughout our building. Sculpture or three dimensional artwork can be found, starting outside the 5th Street entrance and reaching to the 2nd floor, from 80-pound busts to what appears to be metric-ton masses. But how specifically are our bronzes made?

Bronze does not exist naturally in the world; it is an alloy made by mixing the element copper with another metal, usually tin for affordability. We don't know exactly when bronze sculpting began, but the earliest bronze statue found, Dancing Girlin modern-day Pakistan, is at least 4,000 years old. Other small statuettes have been found from China to Nigeria until about 500 BCE, when artists began developing full-size busts of historical figures and large reliefs of epic battles. Unfortunately, many of these works, especially in the Greco-Roman period, have been damaged over time or scrapped entirely for their metal. As new methods and mediums were found for sculpting, bronze declined in popularity; ivory was preferred for small figures, and marble for larger statues. It was not until the Italian Renaissance that cast metals made a triumphant return, and they have remained ever since.

But what is the process for turning a solid chunk of metal into an elegant sculpture? How could anyone take several pounds of metal and mold it into a work of art? The most common answer is 'Lost-Wax Casting,' so named because a wax sculpture is lost during the molding process and replaced with bronze. By first using an easily carved substance like clay and wax, the mold will have perfect detail before the bronze is applied. There are a myriad of other methods for different designs, including sand-cast, centrifugal cast, die cast and shell molding, but lost-wax is historically most used for art.

Eagle-eyed visitors may see some local bronze artists around Lewiston; Ralph Crawford and Sharon Taylor Hall in particular, have several sculptures in our library alone, including Buffalo Runand The Reading Mother, respectively. Sculptures can also be used to commemorate major events or history, such as J. Shirly Bothum's Lewis and Clark Corps of Discoverythat can be seen on 21st and Main and our lovely concrete and bronze fountain outside the Library was installed in 2013 to commemorate our grand opening!

While the most common bronzes range from 1-20 feet in height, many bronze statues in the world are considerably larger. Due to their size, it's unreasonable to make them entirely out of bronze, so they instead use a 'cladding' process, where reinforced concrete and a steel frame is bonded with an outer coating of bronze. This is the case for the African Renaissance Monument, the tallest statue in Africa, a staggering 171 feet tall. Within America, Birth of the New World in Puerto Rico stands a record 360 feet tall, twice the height of the Statue of Libertyfrom torch to toes. Only Asia has three statues still taller; the tallest in the world, Statue of Unity, resides in India and depicts Vallabhbhai Patel, "the Unifier of India" in a steel and bronze monument standing at a magnificent 598 feet.

As for bronze closer to home, the communities of Joseph and Enterprise are known as the bronze capital of Oregon with a foundry in Joseph and many stellar pieces adorning it's main drag. Pieces like Attitude Adjustment, Garden Walk and the Chief Josephcan't be missed. The foundry in Joseph is also the site of the casting of our own The Reading Mother.

When people think of bronze today it is usually associated with being "less than the best", with the Bronze Age being technologically deficient and the bronze medal being the 3rd place winner in competitions. But historically, bronze is enormously important for a multitude of reasons, including as the earliest mirrors for thousands of years, in its use in string and percussion instruments, and as an incredible artistic medium, standing strong for millennia even when a coating of green patina covers it. Our bronze sculptures at the Library and throughout our community are heavy, but we are honored to carry them - and their legacy - into the future.