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player ready...On a bluff in Lowden State park overlooking the Rock River sits a 104-year-old statue called The Eternal Indian.
The figure is a massive depiction, 48 feet tall, and sculpted by Lorado Taft in the early 1900s. It’s such a huge depiction, with the head so far from the view of those on the ground, that it’s easy for visitors to not realize the toll years of harsh weather, including lightning, have taken.
Several years ago Frank and Charron Rausak, of Sterling, Ill., became involved in a restoration effort to clean and preserve the statue. Work has been progressing over the past year, and last Friday I got the opportunity to go with one of my favorite reporters, the Tribune’s Ted Gregory, for an update on the progress.
The Rausaks met Ted and me at the bluff. They’re incredibly warm people who are a joy to talk with. Hard at work at the site was also Andrzej Dajnowski, director of the Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio working on the sculpture. As we stood in the parking lot chatting, we could hear the pings of hammers hitting chisels as Dajnowski’s associates Tadeusz Mlynarczyk and Christopher Ciaston worked to clear years of calcium buildup.
After our conversation, we headed up a set of scaffolding to the top of the sculpture, stopping along the way to observe where early restorationists used diamond saws to cut out damaged pieces.
When you first make it to the head it’s almost startling. The view from atop the makeshift structure, above the canopy of the trees with the winding river below, is one usually only seen by the stoic figure, but because of the project we were afforded a look.
While at the top I took a moment interview Dajnowski for the video here. A huge thank you to him and his team for letting Ted and me behind the (debris netting) curtain. You can read Ted’s wonderful story HERE.