The six-foot-tall statue, a wax replica by Richmond artist Sandy Williams IV, was meant to draw attention to Civil War era and its aftermath.
By Monday morning his head was gone, his left leg was separated from his torso and his right foot was a blob.The six-foot-tall statue of America’s 16th president, by Richmond artist Sandy Williams IV, was installed in February on the campus of Garrison Elementary School in northwest Washington. The noble rendering, meant to draw attention to Civil War era and its aftermath, was placed under towering trees sure to provide ample shade in summer.
At one point Lincoln’s head perched so precariously that staffers at CulturalDC, the nonprofit organization that commissioned the work, attempted to straighten it so that it would stay in place. But it was a lost cause, and so early Monday, they took Lincoln’s head away for safekeeping with plans to reattach it on Tuesday. A wire spoke that kept the former president’s head in place was all that remained.
That approach worked well until the sun intervened over the weekend and Lincoln began to ooze. But melting like soft-serve ice cream on a scorching summer day was not something its creator imagined would happen. Williams, a professor of art at the University of Richmond, understood the wax to have a melting point well above highs recorded in the District’s sultriest summers.“The idea was that the ambient temperature, unless it got to 140 degrees, wouldn’t melt the sculpture,” Williams said.
Placing Lincoln in a neighborhood far from the National Mall helped to make that connection with people who might not otherwise see it, Williams’ said.
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