Forging a President - James A Garfield Statue

[00:00:20][music] >> James A. Garfield's journey took him from the log cabin to the White House with a number of stops along the way.

[00:00:41]As a college president, an abolitionist, a Union general, and a nine-term [music] congressman.

[00:00:48]In 1876, Garfield purchased the Dickey farm on Mentor Avenue with the intention of establishing family roots and getting his hands back into the earth.

[00:00:58]He and his wife, Lucretia, immediately got to work renovating and expanding the farmhouse for what would be their forever home.

[00:01:05]Four short years later, over 17,000 people descended on the tiny village of Mentor to see and hear the dark horse candidate at what would become the nation's first front porch campaign.

[00:01:18]Garfield won a narrow election that November.

[00:01:21]On February 28th, 1881, [music] he said goodbye to well-wishers at the Mentor depot and boarded a train for Washington, D.C.

[00:01:33]He would never return.

[00:01:42]An assassin's bullet struck him on July 2nd and he eventually perished from his [music] wound on September 19th.

[00:01:49]His death rocked the nation to its core.

[00:01:52]But as time went on, so did collective memory.

[00:01:57]>> An ordinance awarding a contract to Cooper Mill Bronze Works Limited to cast and deliver a bronze statue of President James A. Garfield and declaring an emergency.

[00:02:06]>> Mr. Philippi.

[00:02:07]>> In early 2026, [music] Mentor City Council and administration moved ahead with plans to honor our 20th president on the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding [music] as well as the 150th anniversary of his arrival in our community.

[00:02:23]The selected theme was that of statesman [music] Garfield who would have been a common sight to friends and neighbors on Mentor Avenue.

[00:02:31]Renowned artist Alan Cottrell [music] of Zeinzil, Ohio was selected to immortalize Mentor's favorite son.

[00:02:38]His impressive [music] body of work consists of over 400 pieces including that of Thomas Edison [music] in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol building.

[00:02:48]>> [applause and music] >> The design process started with supplying the artist [music] with reference images and general background.

[00:02:56]Cottrell then engaged in his own extensive [music] research to learn more about Garfield.

[00:03:01]>> I knew all the presidents [music] from Ohio. I had a lot of Ohio history as a child two or three different years throughout my schooling.

[00:03:11]Uh I had sculpted [music] I think 16 other presidents and [snorts] and [music] when you folks from Mentor contacted me about doing the Garfield statue which I knew he had been uh general in [music] the Civil War but I couldn't remember enough about him and so I got everything [music] I could find on his life and read it and I thought, "Gee, where's the the more [music] I read the more incredible this guy is."

[00:03:40]So I I think I got a good understanding of his character.

[00:03:46]>> Alan's goal [music] wasn't just to capture Garfield's likeness but his spirit as well.

[00:03:51]>> An amazing [music] individual.

[00:03:54]Tough yet sensitive and yeah, >> [music] >> real cool guy. So, I was anxious to do him and and hope to catchers capture [music] some of that strength yet vulnerability.

[00:04:11]And as with most of the the fellows that have fought in war, especially something like the Civil War, a certain element of having >> [music] >> gone through those hard times and seeing all that death and destruction and certain pain that you never leaves one.

[00:04:34]>> Once the preliminary model was shaped, city representatives were invited to view the piece and provide feedback before final detail and full-scale work got underway.

[00:04:44]We also got to view some of his other work as well as gain insight on how he connects with the subject matter, especially [music] his connection to Garfield.

[00:04:52]>> I'm the first in my family to ever graduate high school, >> [music] >> yet I've traveled the world putting business deals together before I ever started [music] sculpting and now I'm somewhat known as a sculptor, so I identify with a guy starting [music] at the lower some maybe maybe not lowest, but pretty low echelon of the [music] socio-economic scale and then just through hard work and honor and decency [music] and vision elevates their station in life. So, I I identified with that and was [music] able to I think imbue the the piece with some of that toughness [music] and and determination that obviously he had.

[00:05:41]>> Capturing the essence [music] of his subject is what drives him.

[00:05:46]>> I sculpt because of human emotion.

[00:05:49]So, I hadn't thought of it, but it it I think it's much like an actor who >> [music] >> studies one's character and then throws themselves into that character.

[00:06:04]So, I try to understand whatever character or person that I'm sculpting and anything that I have inside me that I can identify with, I try to project that into the piece. [music] It's about the emotive quality of the piece, the >> [music] >> energy that the piece projects, the emotion that the piece projects, uh what the viewer [music] feels when they look at the piece, or thinks, but more for me it's about emotions.

[00:06:37]Uh so, [music] I I try to express that primarily through the facial expression, which >> [music] >> I almost always try to get a complex facial expression.

[00:06:51]So, that [music] it's not just a big open-mouth smile, which a lot of people want. No.

[00:06:57]Something that, like I said, maybe [music] you can see a little pain in the eyes, but you can see a determination in [music] the jaw set, just a a complex set of emotions.

[00:07:08]Then, in [music] the hands, you I I really try to put a lot of emotion in the hands.

[00:07:15]Then, in the overall pose [music] or stance of a piece, you can project strength, power, vulnerability, whatever the case [music] might be that you want to imbue into the piece.

[00:07:29]So, [music] that's what's important to me.

[00:07:32]>> After the final maquette was approved, it was scanned and a full-size mold was created.

[00:07:44]The pieces were layered in 12 coats of ceramic shell before the mold was melted out in the kiln.

[00:07:50]Then forged.

[00:08:16]And released.

[00:08:22]>> And think 7,000 years ago you people were pouring into almost certainly open-faced stone molds.

[00:08:32]>> Yeah.

[00:08:35]>> Spearheads and arrowheads and and small votive statues.

[00:08:44]In the middle of Africa in the 1400s they had incredible sculptures they were pouring in bronze.

[00:08:56]>> The task of fabrication got underway which included welding and finishing.

[00:09:16]While city workers prepared the site.

[00:09:18][music] >> [music] [music] >> The statue was delivered and carefully set [music] in place by the artist himself for the unveiling.

[00:10:00]The city of Mentor is proud to dedicate this monument to honor the life and legacy of James A. Garfield.

[00:10:06]It was an immersive process that we were grateful to undertake and be a part of.

[00:10:12]>> I've worked with, oh, at least [music] 100, maybe closer to 200 groups in doing [music] monuments.

[00:10:21]And I can't think of a one group of people that I've enjoyed working with more and have been so confident as the Mentor group that I've worked with. It It's really been enjoyable and a group of really switched-on people.

[00:10:40]So, it's always nice to [music] have that.

[00:10:44]Just wanted to let Mentor know that you guys are doing a great job up there.

[00:10:50]>> Thank you, Alan, for your kind words and for capturing and conveying Garfield's spirit for the admiration of generations to come.