Client: Concord Historical Society and City of Concord
Location: Concord, CA, United States
Completion date: 2018
Artwork budget: $100,000
Project Team
Artist
Paula B. Slater, M.A.
Paula Slater Sculpture
Client
Carol Longshore
Concord Historical Society
Industry Resource
The Artwork Foundry
Industry Resource
Keith Monument Company
Overview
The Don Salvio Pacheco Monument pays tribute to one of the founders of the City of Concord, California. The highly detailed bronze historical portrait is 7ft high and was installed upon a 3ft high solid granite base with informational bronze plaques on all four sides.
Goals
It was my goal to tell the story of Don Pacheco's generosity and the gifting of his land to form the City of Concord. To accomplish this, I incorporated an 1863 map with an outline of the borders of his land atop a Spanish styled pedestal. Pacheco's right hand rests upon this map with his index finger pointing to Todos Santos Plaza. Pacheco's left hand is holding a scroll of the Grant Deed of his land. My clients had only requested a 7ft high full-figure portrait of Pacheco, however they were thrilled with my concept when I presented the added additional elements in the design sketch.
Process
My clients, the Concord Historical Society and the City of Concord, were very interested in all aspects of the sculpting, mold and bronze process. They visited my sculpture studio and were present at the foundry for the patina. I also emailed them with high resolution in-progress digital photographs long the way. We then created a video of the creation of the Monument in all phases, including the installation of the granite base and the bronze portrait. (This fun and informative video was played on a huge screen at an outdoor event after the dedication on July 4th.) The City took responsibility for the footings, concrete slab, brick pavers and landscaping with my teams guidance. My team included Master Art Molds, bronze casting, finishing and patina by the Artworks Foundry and Keith Monument Company supplying the custom Granite base and installation of the Monument components.
Additional Information
Pacheco was one of the three founders of the City of Concord. In 1834 he received a land grant of 17,921 acres which he named Todos Santos (meaning ‘all Saints’), later renamed Concord. Pacheco was a very generous man and by the time of his death in 1876 he had given away all but 425 acres to flood victims, immigrants and many others.