With assistance from faculty and students at the School of Art and Design at West Virginia University, Morgantown artist and WVU art alumnus Jamie Lester recently completed a cast bronze sculpture commemorating the canine heroes of 9/11.
Lester’s sculpture, a life-size cast bronze German Shepherd, is part of a memorial at Diamond in the Pines Park in Coram on Long Island, N.Y., paying tribute to the hundreds of rescue dogs that searched for survivors amid the debris from the collapse of the Twin Towers.
A ceremony was held on the 11th anniversary of the attacks to unveil the memorial to the public.
“Jamie spoke to me in the spring about utilizing our facilities to help make this piece,” said Dylan Collins, coordinator of the WVU sculpture area. “It sounded like a great project, and I definitely liked the idea of helping out a WVU art alumnus, so I agreed to work with him.
“I taught a sculpture course in July and August this past summer, so thankfully, there was a hard-working group of students on hand to help him create this artwork,” Collins said.
“My students and I really had a great time helping Jamie, and his finished sculpture looks fabulous.”
Lester, who graduated from WVU in 1997, has created numerous significant public artworks, including 120 bronze-relief portrait busts for inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., and a memorial to former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner III in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City.
Another of his bronze sculptures is part of the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance, dedicated to the Brooklyn firefighters who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks. That work portrays grieving firefighters and is part of a monument located in Keyspan Park on Coney Island.
His sculptures on the WVU campus include the statue of basketball great Jerry West outside the Coliseum and the statue of broadcaster Jack Fleming inside the Erickson Alumni Center.
“I saw this project as an opportunity to contribute something back to my alma mater, while creating a meaningful piece of public art,” Lester said.
“When I graduated from WVU, the bronze casting facilities did not even exist, so back then this would not have been possible. The success of this project is a testament to the integrity of the College of Creative Arts and the exciting possibilities in store for the School of Art and Design.”
Casting bronze has only recently become part of the sculpture curriculum at WVU, according to Alison Helm, director of the School of Art & Design.
“Jamie was a star student, very talented and a hard worker, so it was nice to finally give him a chance to have a hands-on experience with casting bronze at WVU,” she said. “I am pleased that we were able to bring back one of our alums and help him with this very special artwork.”
WVU art students who helped Lester cast the sculpture included John Gatewood, Grace Goswick, Kenji Yamashita, Scott Albert, Scott Burnworth, Jamie Cokeley, Shannon Dent, Danielle Lenhart, Kelsie Lilly, Stormy Nesbit,
Amanda Parrish, Justin Pitsenbarger, Jessica Woodstuff and John Baker.
“We also couldn’t have completed this project without help from Jeremy Entwistle, who coordinates the sculpture program at Fairmont State University and is an instructor at WVU,” Collins said. “He is a 2007 MFA graduate from our program and a casting guru, so he contributed a great deal to this project.”
See more of Lester’s work at Lester Sculpture: http://www.lestersculpture.com/
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CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu
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