Sculpture shock

Sep. 24—New finishes on recently restored sculptures at two Lewiston city parks fail to replicate the tones present when the works were new.

That opinion comes from Lewiston artist Sharon Taylor, who completed the four coyotes that surround a statue of Sacajawea at Pioneer Park in Lewiston.

The coyotes and statue of Sacajawea, as well as a sculpture titled "The Dance" at Brackenbury Square near Main Street, were refurbished at Valley Bronze in Joseph, Ore., the foundry where they were originally cast, Taylor said.

The decadesold sculptures were removed in February and brought back in August with copper and brassy hues, not the bronze tone they had originally, she said.

"It's not at all what I was expecting," said Taylor, one of three artists who created the sculptures. The others are dead.

The city is aware of the problem and is examining options, said Tim Barker, Lewiston's Parks and Recreation director.

The best outcome would be for the works to be returned to the foundry, Taylor said, and redone under her supervision.

"The foundry has been very willing to do whatever it takes to make this right," she said.

No one from the foundry was available for comment Friday.

The city instructed Valley Bronze to retrieve, clean, repair, redo patinas and return the sculptures, but didn't provide color samples or original photographs, Barker said.

"They just had to use their best judgment," he said.

Water features that are part of the installations of the sculptures were maintained at Pioneer Park and Brackenbury Square. But they weren't activated this year because the statues were gone most of the summer, Barker said.

K & G Construction and Knox Concrete helped remove and reinstall "The Dance" at Brackenbury Square. Its base was attached in the ground and concrete was poured around it.

The sculpture was redesigned so that concrete won't have to be cut out if it needs to be moved again for cleaning, Barker said.

Money from a downtown area business improvement district paid for the projects. City officials were unable to provide the figure Friday.

Both works have been an important part of the city's landscape for years.

A fountain featuring Sacajawea was originally placed by the Tcseminicum Club in 1911. It was shut off in 1960 because of plumbing issues. The coyotes were removed because of deterioration.

A replica of the original fountain debuted in 1990, with Sacajawea completed by J. Shirly Bothum and the coyotes done by Taylor.

The fountain was remodeled in 2009 in a project that replaced a pool of water with water jets.

"The Dance," sculpted by David Sears, is newer. It was unveiled in 1994 and features three children playing in a semicircle. The girl and one of the boys hold the hands of the second boy whose upper body tips backward.

Lewiston is a nice community where kids can play, Sears told the Tribune when his work was introduced.

"Children playing reflect the health of the community," he said. "It's kind of like a canary that is put down in a mine shaft to see if there are poisonous gasses: When you drive through a town and don't see kids playing, something is wrong."

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.