This story is from this morning's Post Standard on Syracuse.com. 

Once-missing Lincoln statue returns to sculptor at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park
Cazenovia, NY -- Lately, an aura of reverence surrounds Abraham Lincoln, largely because of President-elect Barack Obama's admiration of the 16th president of the United States.

In Central New York, mystery surrounds another image of Lincoln. A 9-foot-tall sculpture of the statesman, titled "Young Lincoln," had disappeared from public view for over a year until, by coincidence, word of its possible whereabouts surfaced on Election Day.

Now, the sculpture, somewhat the worse for wear, has been returned to its creator, Dorothy Riester, co-founder of Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia.

Just as Lincoln endured hardships, the sculpture has traveled a rough road since its unveiling in the lobby of the Lincoln National Bank & Trust Co. of Central New York at MONY Plaza on April 2, 1967.

The bank's board of directors commissioned Riester to create a likeness of Lincoln. The sculptress, now 92, said she created Lincoln as a "legend, a folk figure striding across the landscape." She studied paintings and pictures "to get the planes of his face and his long, lanky figure."

She said the paycheck was small: "Nobody used to pay much for sculpture, long time ago."

The sculpture features Lincoln in a frock coat with his right arm bent at the elbow with an outstretched hand, and was placed originally upon a massive black granite base.

Riester, an artist since 1940, welded "Young Lincoln" from forged wrought iron.

"It wasn't your typical presidential sculpture," said Dylan Otts, site manager at
Stone Quarry Hill Art Park. "It was abstract."

Throughout the years, the sculpture remained at Lincoln Bank and later at Chase Lincoln First Bank after a 1984 merger.

Lincoln was last seen at the bank in 1986 or 1988, says Otts. Since its bank days, the sculpture's ownership has been difficult to trace.

It next reappeared in a less august setting -- Awful Al's bar in Armory Square, where it remained until 2007 when the bar closed, says Otts.

The Lincoln trail was cold until this summer, when Otts placed a small newspaper ad seeking its whereabouts.

"I just thought it would be a great thing to have it back here" at the art park, said Otts, who had admired the sculpture at Awful Al's.

Serendipitously, a visitor to the art park had heard of someone restoring a sculpture of Lincoln. Amber Blanding, arts administrator at Stone Quarry, tracked down Ron Hall, welder and owner of All-Fab Inc. in Central Square.

Hall confirmed that a customer had delivered "Young Lincoln" for repair. He reattached the sculpture's outstretched hand and an ankle.

"The detail in the sculpture really impressed me," said Hall, referring to the veins in the hands and the definition in the neck.

Blanding located "Young Lincoln" through an antiques dealer. But his freedom came when a supporter of the art park, who wishes to remain anonymous, purchased the sculpture so it could be returned to Riester, says Otts.

He describes the sale price as "not small, but not large" -- somewhere under $10,000.

For now, a slightly rusty Lincoln is in winter storage at the art park. Otts says plans are being discussed for its future. Possibilities include a 2009 retrospective of Riester's work, with "Young Lincoln" featured, or the sculpture being loaned to a museum.

Riester muses that perhaps "Young Lincoln" may be destined one day for the presidential library of Barack Obama.

 


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