Iconic Iron Horse sculpture will be removed for extensive restoration this summer
The Iron Horse will disappear later this spring from the rural location where it has stood for more than 60 years like a dark silhouette against the horizon.
This steel sculpture of a horse has become a landmark for travelers along Georgia Highway 15 near the Oconee River in Greene County.
But this much-admired work of art created in the 1950s by a former University of Georgia art professor will soon have its first ever major restoration done. The sculpture, worn from the rust of time and graffiti, will be removed to Athens for the work.
Some work was done in 2015 due to rust around the base, but now the 12-foot-tall statue will get a better touch.
UGA, which now owns the sculpture, is working with Amy Jones Abbe, a sculpture and artwork conservator, in Athens. She located her business to Athens in 2011, and according to her bio, she worked previously in New York, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History. She has worked in restoring objects in many materials from stone to wood and painted surfaces.
Georgia Agriculture: Georgia governor signs bills to regulate hemp farming, prevent foreign ownership of farmland
“The fact they are having it restored is so great,” Abbe said Thursday. “The university should be really proud that they are choosing to look after it properly and get it back into good condition.”
Abbe said she has a colleague who will jointly work on the sculpture. And it needs some care.
“There has been so much vandalism over the years, including a substantial piece taken in the last three years," she said.
The sculpture is located on the former Curtis farm, which was sold to UGA in 2014. Today that UGA research farm is called the “Iron Horse Plant Sciences Farm.”
Since the farm’s purchase, UGA installed a parking lot near the sculpture and provided a path to the Iron Horse, where travelers often stop for photos. Numerous professional photographers also have their versions of the Iron Horse taken at all times of the night and day.
A timeline for the work has not been firmly established, but it should take place in coming weeks.
The Iron Horse, a creation of Abbott Pattison, was originally on the UGA campus near Reed Hall, but it was vandalized by students, then moved away from the location. L.C. Curtis acquired it in 1959 and placed it in the middle of a vast field, which was most often used to grow corn.
UGA officials said that Patty Curtis and her daughter, Alice Hugel, gave the sculpture and the piece of land where it stands to the university earlier this year.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Iron Horse temporarily leaving its landmark position south of Athens
