Tag: Sarah Hutt

Sunday Is Leif Erikson Day, Discover his Boston Statue!

October 9th has been the official Leif Erikson Day since Congress declared it so in 1964. If Hurricane Matthew allows us to have a nice day on Sunday, we suggest you take a walk along the Commonwealth Avenue Mall to the corner of Charlesgate East (map) and discover Boston's Memorial to this Viking explorer.

At the moment, many details of the monument are hidden by tropical plants.

In this photo from the Boston Public Library Collection, you can see that he stands above a dragon-headed boat and that boat would have been the basin for a fountain rather than a planter.

According to an 1887 Boston Globe article, the memorial's dedication was originally located on a traffic island at Commonwealth Avenue and West Chester Park, the former name of Massachusetts Avenue. We are still trying to confirm when it was relocated.

Here's a photo that Penny took a few seasons ago with more of the monument showing in the setting sun.

Plan a return visit!

Be sure to come back in winter to discover all the lovely details that sculptor Anne Whitney incorporated into this work of art. A few years ago, we interviewed Sarah Hutt, the Friends of the Public Garden Collections Care Manager. She admitted that this is her favorite statue on the Mall. “I just find that so playful,” she said. “I’ve had the opportunity to go up on the scaffolding [during a restoration] and look at it. There is so much interesting detail… It has all these little stories of his voyages engraved in it.”

How Do You Spell It?

Back in 1000, when this man was said to be sailing up the Charles, people were not as fussy about spelling as we are today. References to him include the following spellings: Leif, Leifur, Leiv, Erikson, Ericson, Ericsson, or Ericksson. As you can see on the information plaque attached to the statue, the city has gone with the Leif Erikson version so we are following their example for now.

Our research files on this monument contain many more interesting tidbits that we'll share at a later date. For now, enjoy the fall weather and take a walk to see this piece of Boston public art.

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Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2016 Penny Cherubino, historic photo by Moulton Photograph Co. courtesy of the Boston Public Library.

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Washington Under Wraps…

Last week, scaffolding and then wraps were put in place around the George Washington Monument in the Boston Public Garden.

.

We asked Sarah Hutt, Collections Care Manager for the Friends of the Public Garden, what was happening with the sculpture. She told us it's having a regularly scheduled conservation cleaning treatment.

Here are the details of the project from Sarah:

"After about 7 years the protective Incralac coating which protects the bronze has worn off so it is removed, then a fresh coat is applied.

Once it has dried, it is covered with multiple layers of wax to protect it from the elements. By doing this work the statue's condition will stay stable, protecting it from damage from such things as acid rain and saving the cost of a full restoration.

Conservator Josh Craine from Daedalus Fine Art Conservators is doing the work. It will take approximately 5 days.

The work is being funded by the Adopt a Statue Fund and the Friends of the Public Garden's Henry Lee Conservation Fund."

Click over to this page on their website to learn more about how the Friends of the Public Garden has taken on the care of the 44 pieces of sculpture in three parks – The Boston Common, The Public Garden, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 19, 2013
Washington Under Wraps…

Last week, scaffolding and then wraps were put in place around the George Washington Monument in the Boston Public Garden.

.

We asked Sarah Hutt, Collections Care Manager for the Friends of the Public Garden, what was happening with the sculpture. She told us it's having a regularly scheduled conservation cleaning treatment.

Here are the details of the project from Sarah:

"After about 7 years the protective Incralac coating which protects the bronze has worn off so it is removed, then a fresh coat is applied.

Once it has dried, it is covered with multiple layers of wax to protect it from the elements. By doing this work the statue's condition will stay stable, protecting it from damage from such things as acid rain and saving the cost of a full restoration.

Conservator Josh Craine from Daedalus Fine Art Conservators is doing the work. It will take approximately 5 days.

The work is being funded by the Adopt a Statue Fund and the Friends of the Public Garden's Henry Lee Conservation Fund."

Click over to this page on their website to learn more about how the Friends of the Public Garden has taken on the care of the 44 pieces of sculpture in three parks – The Boston Common, The Public Garden, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 19, 2013
Washington Under Wraps…

Last week, scaffolding and then wraps were put in place around the George Washington Monument in the Boston Public Garden.

.

We asked Sarah Hutt, Collections Care Manager for the Friends of the Public Garden, what was happening with the sculpture. She told us it's having a regularly scheduled conservation cleaning treatment.

Here are the details of the project from Sarah:

"After about 7 years the protective Incralac coating which protects the bronze has worn off so it is removed, then a fresh coat is applied.

Once it has dried, it is covered with multiple layers of wax to protect it from the elements. By doing this work the statue's condition will stay stable, protecting it from damage from such things as acid rain and saving the cost of a full restoration.

Conservator Josh Craine from Daedalus Fine Art Conservators is doing the work. It will take approximately 5 days.

The work is being funded by the Adopt a Statue Fund and the Friends of the Public Garden's Henry Lee Conservation Fund."

Click over to this page on their website to learn more about how the Friends of the Public Garden has taken on the care of the 44 pieces of sculpture in three parks – The Boston Common, The Public Garden, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 19, 2013