Russ Roberts: That’s right. When you posted, what did you post, both in writing and physically? I just told the audience, that: We will put a number of videos that will allow you to see what this looks like. It’s amazing, even on video. I’m sure it’s even more amazing in person. But in the video, you get a real idea of how amazing the finished work is, and the process, and there are some videos on that. Again, we’ll talk about the process in a minute. But I want to know what you sent. Did you move a little bit of everything, or one of the figures, or did you explain it? What is that kind of process like in an international competition like this?
Sabin Howard: The delivery was completely different than the way the project came about. We started with an idea of what we could do. And just to win the job, we had to go to five meetings to present.
Also, I made the drawings and worked the same way I worked before this. I work-found models: everyday, ordinary people with very specific characters. And in the beginning, I hired the original uniform. I hired a real uniform, 105 years old or so, and started taking pictures and came up with a plan. I made two drawings. Those paintings took me, probably, I think 140 hours each.
And then, Joseph–Joe–created the vision of the park. Now, the reason we won is twofold. We found a park that Friedberg built in the 1980s, and it was a nice place with a skating rink in front of the Willard Hotel. But as we moved forward in this tournament–you’re talking here, it’s 35 years later–this park fell to the ground. big not correcting. It was full of junk and junk. Again, this is shocking, but maybe not so shocking because this is 150 yards from the White House–so, it looks like a pile of trash. So, something had to be done.
And, Joseph’s piece–Joe Weishar’s piece–in the post, it was the closest group of all the 360 groups to preserving the bones and structure of that city park. Also, the directions from the competition were very clear. We need to create a memorial that will please people, again we need to keep that urban park. Also, save the most urban park in all 360 groups.
And, for my part, after we went to two meetings, Edwin Fountain, who was in charge of the Centennial Commission, said to me that he really liked the Grant Monument in front of the Capitol done by the sculptor Shrady. And, I took that to heart; I went and looked at it; and I was very interested.
And I–in the end, I’ll say that’s the best sculpture in the world. you have on US soil. It belongs to a different generation. It is a chariot drawn through the mud by horses. It is very kinetic; it’s very emotional. And it’s fun. It’s fun to sculpt because when you walk through it, this scene happens and you’re drawn to it. And so, you can get a changing chemistry in your body. That’s a visceral explanation.
So, I thought: ‘Wow, you have to change the way you work.’ I had worked very much from a very beautiful, aesthetic, esoteric foundation that resembled Greco-Roman sculpture. So, my work was very structured, very quiet, and not dramatic.
So, I entered the contest with the most amazing drawings. And Joe used the computer to make a map, like a wall. And we put the math up on that wall. And they liked the idea, and that was the beginning.
Now, I had to take that and completely change that the next year. I took 12,000 photos with models and worked over and over again, returning to Washington to meet with the Centennial Commission – all lawyers, who were not based in art, but had an idea of where they wanted to go.
And so it was—this is, like, a difficult, challenging process, because you’re working with a person and they don’t understand you and you don’t understand him. We are completely different. Musicians and lawyers are from different parts of the world. So, we worked together, which I don’t think happens very often.
And then, another thing that doesn’t happen often is: Most artists–and I’m not trying to be disrespectful here–but because we need to make a living, we’ll go along with the client. I didn’t-I led the team. I said, ‘It has to be like this,’ and we had several arguments. Also, I held on to the vision I needed to play forward.
Also, the reason I stuck with that idea was because I knew I was doing things the right way, given how many reps I was doing. Not that I was like, I came up with the first one; I was like, ‘Yeah, here it is.’ No. I have been taking criticism that we will have, that I will make presentations; and then this legal team says, ‘Hey, we don’t like the way this is something. We have to change this.’
And I made changes in the mind that I think would have been more challenging for other artists. I was–I was really pushed to my creative limits.
And, then the painting had to go through the Commission of Fine Arts, which is—this is a very difficult thing. They maintained the Eisenhower Memorial for 15 years. Granted, it’s a piece of garbage. But they caught on we for about a year and a half, and they don’t know anything about carpentry. They were all local artists.
So, the challenge there, and the fact that they support park conservation, too, was a road block for us. And, finally we succeeded.
And then, okay, after this, it’s like, ‘I have to record it.’ So, this, like a Herculean task. It is truly a hero’s journey in itself.
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