(Photos by Robert Hubner, WSU Photo Services)Within moments, a brilliant metallic sheen began to show through the surface of the rusted and weathered sculpture.
The now completely restored work by Northwest artist Harold Balazs will return to its home early next week at Lincoln Middle School in Pullman after years in storage, thanks to an effort by WSU staff and faculty, the Pullman School District and the Pullman Arts Commission.
Award-winning sculptor and WSU alumnus Balazs worked to restore one of his sculptures this week at a Pullman School District maintenance shop where it sat for more than five years. Balazs was commissioned to do the sculpture for Lincoln Middle School in the 1960s. The piece was removed during the school’s remodeling and placed in storage. Construction on the project was completed in 2005 but Balazs’ piece was not returned, until now.
After hearing about Balazs’ work sitting in storage, Mark Rutherford, a sophomore at Pullman High School, contacted Anna-Maria Shannon, associate director of the WSU Museum of Art and chair of the Pullman Arts Commission, interested in helping restore the work for his Eagle Scout project. Shortly after, a collaborative effort to recover the sculpture, refurbish it and return it to Lincoln Middle School began.
“It’s a seminal work,” Shannon said. “It took a lot of cooperation. I am so grateful to everyone at Lincoln, WSU and the Pullman School District administration for helping to get Mark’s project going. Harold and Mark were a great team and the final product is amazing.”
Octogenarian Balazs returned to Pullman from Nov. 5-7 to restore his work with the help of Rutherford and Nickolus Meisel, assistant professor of Fine Arts at WSU. The newly refinished sculpture will be installed across from the library inside Lincoln Middle School.
Balazs received his fine arts degree from WSU in 1951. He lives and works in Mead and is known throughout the Northwest for his public works of art using a variety of media. Multiple installations of his outdoor work can found throughout Spokane.
Photos
|
|
Rutherford (Above Left) and Balazs pause during restoration.
|
