[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 186 (Tuesday, November 27, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7104-S7105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Recognizing a New Ceres Statue for the Vermont State House Dome
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this Friday, November 30, at noon,
Vermonters will be gathering to see a large crane carefully hoist a
14\1/2\-foot carved statue of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, atop
the newly gilded dome of the statehouse in Montpelier. I was born in
Montpelier, and I am proud of this because it is going to be a great
moment for our State and for everyone involved in the project, which
has captured the attention of not only Vermonters but of those who have
been following the project from great distances with the help of social
media.
The new version of Ceres replaces a 1938 replica of the original
statue that was removed last April after too many severe Vermont
winters took a toll on the wood figure. Since that time, Vermont
artists Jerry Williams and Chris Miller have been hard at work creating
the new Ceres, first sculpting a model and then, out of a big piece of
mahogany, they chiseled the final mahogany figure.
Marcelle and I and my sister Mary, along with David Schutz, had the
pleasure of visiting the Vermont Granite Museum in Barre, VT, a few
months back to witness Mr. Miller at work.
I am the grandson of two stone carvers. One of my grandfathers
immigrated to Vermont from Italy. The other, my Irish grandfather,
carved stone in Barre. So it was a thrill to see how Mr. Miller used
the original tools of the trade.
He took raw wood and turned it into the fine details we now see, from
Ceres' flowing robes to the distinctive veins in her hands. It was
really remarkable to see this hunk of wood turn into a real person.
Both artists learned their techniques by studying in the studios of
Barre's stone carvers. It is a specialized art that requires intense
dedication, patience, skill, and practice. We are so fortunate that
artists such as these have carried on a tradition that makes Vermonters
proud.
It reminds me of the times as a child when I would go in and watch
stone carvers at work in Barre, where my father was born, and watch
them turn stone into pieces of pure art.
In this case they are using wood. Incidentally, the reason the statue
is made out of wood instead of stone is that wood weighs less, and
there is only so much weight the dome can hold.
I grew up in a home across the street from the Vermont State House.
Ceres was always in our sights. Walking to school, coming back from
school, doing my paper route, and being out with my brother and sister
and my parents, we would always see Ceres. She is a strong figure, one
that befits a State where farming and soil and hard work are so closely
linked to our lives.
Frankly, over the past few months, when I have been home in Vermont,
going by the statehouse and seeing it without Ceres has been odd
because it has always been part of my life. So this Vermonter and
Vermonters like my wife Marcelle and others are going to be glad to
have her back.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this November 10 article
from the Barre, VT, Times Argus, profiling these two sculptors be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Times Argus, Nov. 10, 2018]
For the Love of Carving: Jerry Williams and Chris Miller Earn
Governor's Honors
(By B. Amore)
Jerry Williams and Chris Miller are united in their love of
the ancient craft of carving. It is this common love that has
brought them together as a team in creating the 14.5-foot
statue of Ceres for the Vermont State House dome. This
project, and their separate accomplishments, have won them
the 2018 prestigious Governor's Award for Excellence in the
Arts, which will be presented by Gov. Phil Scott at the State
House Nov. 14.
Carving, a reductive process that was once part of every
classical sculptor's training, has now become the purview of
a discrete selection of artists in the United States. Barre,
of course, is a mecca of stone carving, primarily in granite.
Its community of skilled carvers who work in the monument
trade, as well as executing large public art sculptures and
making their own personal work, is a unique resource.
The native stone of the surrounding region, and the culture
of carved sculpture, drew both Williams and Miller, albeit by
different paths. Williams talks of attending the art program
at Johnson State College and being the only one interested in
learning clay sculpture. It was at a time when conceptual
work and mixed media held sway in the art world, but he was
interested in learning the basics of sculpture. In order to
learn ``real'' sculpture at the source, he set up an
internship with Frank Gaylord, who trained a generation of
Barre sculptors. That internship turned into a job and a life
in granite.
Eventually, Williams founded his own shop, the Barre
Sculpture Studio. He talks of belonging to a ``lineage'' in
the sense of the classical studio system that exists in
Carrara, Italy, and that was brought to Barre and to the
Vermont Marble Company in Proctor in the 19th century.
Generally, a well-known sculptor would create a model and
the expert carvers in the sculpture studios would then
execute it. ``Youth Triumphant,'' a Barre monument depicting
a young warrior pleading for world peace, was carved by Gino
Enrico Tosi, Enrico Mori and John Delmonte from a model
created by famous New York sculptor C. Paul Jennewein.
Williams is one of the few sculptors in Barre who creates his
own model for a commission and then sees it through to
execution in his studio.
Miller began woodcarving independently in 1976 while
studying art at Southern Connecticut State University and
Southern Vermont College in Bennington. Although he is
largely self-taught, he worked with the sculptors Lothar
Werslin and Billy Brauer of Vermont to hone his skills in
drawing, sculpture, and anatomy. For his first 25 years as a
working artist, he carved only in wood.
Living in Calais, in Barre's shadow, it was inevitable that
Miller would eventually carve stone. Finding his way to the
studios of several Barre sculptors, he learned the rudiments
of stone carving, and since then has been working in wood and
stone, doing both public commissions and personal work.
According to Miller, Williams' classical studies have
enabled him to become one of the best figurative sculptors in
Vermont. As Miller meticulously carves the Ceres statue in
wood, he is constantly taking measurements from Williams'
exquisite model.
Williams is a consummate artist and craftsman, and builds
his models from the inside out, beginning with a metal
armature, layered over with clay to create a nude body, then
layering clothing on that. His knowledge of anatomy underlies
the figure, giving it a much more realistic sense than most
contemporary sculptors are able to achieve with less rigorous
means. Miller's own anatomy studies enhance the liveliness of
his carving so that there is an incredible flow to Ceres'
robes--something that is very evident in the supine form that
is near completion at the Vermont Granite Museum in Barre.
Miller's portraits in wood are incredibly sensitive. The
character of the individuals shines through the seemingly
obdurate material. Miller is imbued with a love of carving
and speaks of feeling relaxed and joyous at the end of a day
of work. His portrait piece ``Stanley Fitch,'' complete with
eyeglasses carved on the face, feels like an integral part of
his subject's personality.
The elderly farmer, ``Percy,'' and the couple, ``Howard and
Dot,'' are more expressive and personal than a photograph or
a painting. The character of each person seems alive before
our eyes, under Miller's sensitive strokes. The flow of the
lines of carving, all done by hand, follow the form as
intimately as a sculptor's fingers working clay. This is an
extraordinary achievement and a real legacy creation for many
generations.
Most of Miller's personal work in granite and marble is
figurative. The female form seems to be of endless
inspiration to him. He has also joined forces with other
sculptors who have an ongoing project at the Millstone Hill
Sculpture Park on the site of the old Websterville quarry.
There is a plentiful supply of grey Barre granite, and one
never knows when one of Miller's trolls or Hephaestus, the
god of fire, might emerge from an old quarry block. Another
popular work is a sculptural truck that Miller built, with
community support, that resides in Maple Corner, Calais.
Miller doesn't see much of a difference between public and
private work. He approaches them with the same spirit. With
personal sculptures shown in galleries, he never knows where
they will end up. With a public art piece, the area has to be
researched, and the artist has to come up with an idea that
is relevant. For one commission in Marion, Iowa, a bike-
centric community, Miller designed a bike rack supported by
granite gloves carved from the town's photos. One of his bike
racks featuring gargoyles engaged in an eternal tug of war
graces Barre's North Main Street.
Williams' approach to working with clients on public
commissions is a genuinely collaborative one, whether he is
working on a
[[Page S7105]]
memorial sculpture for a family grieving over the loss of
their infant daughter or a 10-foot-high granite Teddy bear
for Highland Park in Dallas, Texas. His modus operandi is
consistently professional, beginning with drawings, moving
towards a clay model, then the final execution in stone
using diamond saws and pneumatic tools powered by air. For
the Barre City and Elementary School, Williams chose to
create a collection of freestanding Teddy bears tumbling
playfully in one of the sculptural niches at the school.
Williams admits that the challenge of running a carving
business and creating personal work is not an easy one. He's
not sure that there is a ``happy medium,'' and often feels
that he is ``stealing time'' to make personal work. His
personal work is often carved granite and mixed media. Two
pieces that demonstrate this are ``Argon,'' a split sphere,
combining high polish and texture that contains a line of
blue argon gas. ``Neon,'' a linear piece with a mysterious,
mask-like face, is illuminated with a center of red. Williams
loves the effect of the light energy contrasting with the
density of the stone. Other pieces are always
representational, but not figurative. The work ``Warm Gun''
is a tour de force of softly draped fabric covering a form
that reveals itself as a gun only after close inspection.
Williams and Miller belong to a group of sculptors who
believe in collaboration. At times, an artist is awarded a
commission and will come to Williams to create the model. If
Williams or Miller needs help on a larger project, they may
bring in one or two other carvers. Large-scale sculpture
takes a cooperative effort, and it is this spirit of sharing
between Williams and Miller that animates the Ceres project.
They both tell of a chance meeting at LBJ's store in
Worcester and discussing the requirements for the Ceres
sculpture. It was that informal conversation that led them to
the path of creating a proposal together to apply for the
commission.
Williams was involved in the early days of the Barre
Sculptors and Artisans Guild, a loose affiliation of Barre
carvers who were also creating their own personal sculpture.
What began as a Friday afternoon gathering to drink beer
together at Gaylord's studio blossomed into a group that
showed their work together. Their first show filled Williams'
studio in 1986. Some of those carvers still participate in
the annual Stone Show at Studio Place arts.
Williams also participated in the Burlington International
Sculpture Symposium organized by University of Vermont
professor and sculptor Paul Aschenbach. The intense six-week
symposium resulted in a park on the site of the Moran
Municipal Generation Station, which endured for 23 years.
Local sculptors worked with sculptors from Japan, Germany,
Czechoslovakia, Scotland, the Netherlands and Romania to
create a people-friendly environment that has been
temporarily dismantled and hopefully awaits a second
installation in Burlington's redesigned waterfront area.
Sue Higby, director of Barre's Studio Place Arts (SPA), has
supported the personal work of Barre carvers by hosting the
annual Stone Show at SPA. She has also been a key mover in
the execution of public projects in Barre, including
developing and securing funding for the Stone Sculpture
Legacy Program, which was supported initially by the Charles
Semprebon Fund. It was Higby who approached Miller with the
idea of creating a site-specific piece in a narrow space
between Studio Place Arts and Barre City Place. The resulting
``Unzipping the Earth,'' simultaneously a sculpture and a
garden, was designed and executed by Miller, and won the 2014
American Society of Landscape Architects Merit Award for
Public Places.
Both Miller and Williams are outstanding examples of the
creativity and perseverance that marks sculptors who carve
stone or wood. In dealing with an obdurate material, one has
to have an eternally flexible attitude--a willingness to work
with the stone, not in competition with it--a willingness to
bend the carving to follow the flow of the grain of the wood
or stone.
Vermont is fortunate to count these seasoned professionals
among the ranks of its profuse community of artists. They are
exemplars of artists who have followed their individual
paths, and have succeeded in creating exceptional works of
art in both the public and private sphere. They have given
generously to their communities, and richly deserve the
Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.