Pawhuska foundry will help build 'The American'

Plans are moving right along for the nation's biggest bronze statue, here in Tulsa. It's going to be cast by a foundry in Osage County, that's already made a mark with Oklahoma sculptures.

Thursday, April 15th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Plans are moving right along for the nation's biggest bronze statue, here in Tulsa. It's going to be cast by a foundry in Osage County, that's already made a mark with Oklahoma sculptures.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan has the story. Thereâ€™s probably no better collection of sculpture anywhere than the Bronze Horse Foundry - after all, much of the fine sculpture that's made in Oklahoma is made right here.

John Free runs the business that his father started in 1973. â€œIt takes about 3 months from the time we get it till we turn it out.â€ The Bronze Horse casts about a thousand pieces of bronze each year - out of 2000 degree metal.

The casting is just one step - from there, the metal has to cool and be worked over by a dozen people to get the finish and the color right. After all the work of a good foundry is invisible - it lets the work of the artist show through. Soon - work begins on a sculpture bigger than the Statue of Liberty -- "The American" statue for artist Shan Gray. â€œWe know we'll have about 3 - 4 years of steady work, with about 25 people working on it, just all the time, all they're doing.â€

For the foundry, the American project poses some special challenges because of its scale. Each piece would be a big job - as big as this piece - and the statue is so big it has 1,800 pieces. â€œSomething like this you wake up in the morning thinking about it, go to bed thinking about and we will be for the next 3 or 4 years.â€

Free is confident the expertise crafted by doing these relatively small jobs can be successfully translated into the giant scale of a 17 story statue. He's ready to go - and hopes to start casting sometime this fall.

The Bronze Horse plans to build a temporary foundry at the statue site so those heavy pieces won't have to go far. The site hasn't been announced. Tulsa mayor Bill LaFortune says word on the location will probably come early next week.