Client: Town of Leesburg

Location: Leesburg, VA, United States

Completion date: 2019

Artwork budget: $78,500

Project Team

Industry Resource

Randy Welker

Laran Bronze Foundry

Overview

The commission was to pay tribute to Stanley Caulkins with a life size bronze statue of the man sitting on a bench. It would be placed along the sidewalk down town in front of his jewelry store that he ran for 61 years

Goals

To pay tribute to a local contributor of Leesburg who co-founded the Leesburg Airport, a WWII veteran and a roll model for acts of kindness. The sculpture needed to be life-like and approachable since he was going to be at ground level. There were very few photos of Stanley to work from so I relied on his friends and had them visit my studio to get there input. Many details were added to tell Stanley’s story, such as he is holding a pocket watch which he repaired many of. He has a jeweler’s magnifying glass attached to his glasses and diamonds on his tie to represent him being a jeweler.. He has a B17 tie clasp for his service in WWII and a rotary pin on his lapel. On his lap is his VFW hat with emblems.

Process

It started with an 18 inch clay and wood model to get a pose that everyone agreed on. I made a bench from parts I bought on ebay and created the life size sculpture in clay. A mold was made and the piece was cast at Laran Bronze Foundry. The bench was also cast in bronze and the plaque was embedded flush into the back of the bench.