Artist sought for Ohio’s new U.S. Capitol statue

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CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio commission is seeking an artist to
design a statue of inventor Thomas Edison to be added to the U.S.
Capitol’s National Statuary Hall.
The nonprofit Ohio Statuary Hall
Commission is now accepting proposals from interested and qualified
artists, according to a release sent on behalf of the commission.
Each
state gets to place two statues of notable historic figures in the
Capitol. Edison, a native of Milan in northern Ohio, would join U.S.
President James Garfield as Ohio’s representatives in the hall,
replacing the current statue of Governor William Allen.
Edison was
chosen in a vote at historic sites around Ohio in 2010, winning
narrowly over aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright. Edison
received more than one thousand patents, including ones for the
phonograph, the kinetoscope for viewing motion pictures and the first
practical incandescent light bulb.
The state General Assembly and
Republican Gov. John Kasich decided to recall the statue of Allen in
2012. Allen, a Democrat, served in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate before
becoming Ohio’s 31st governor in 1874.
The statuary commission is
accepting artists’ proposals for the statue until 4 p.m. on May 5. It
will then select up to five finalists before deciding on the winning
proposal, subject to approval by the state of Ohio, the architect of the
Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.
Artists
applying for the job must show how they intend to convey the inventor
through their design and submit documentation and photos of prior
experience, plus an itemized estimate of expenses.
"We have a
preference for an Ohio artist who is able to capture the ingenuity of
Thomas Edison as a representation of the creative and industrious spirit
of all Ohioans," Doug McDonald, who heads the commission, said in an
email.
Finalists will be selected by May 26 and will have just
over a month to complete a small model of their proposed design for
submission to the commission by June 30. A final decision is expected in
July.
The project is funded solely by private donations, with the
final statue tentatively scheduled to be unveiled on Oct. 21, 2015 in
the Capitol.
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Online: www.ohiostatuaryhall.org
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
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