

Learn more about the
Mason County Sculpture Trail
featuring a 9-foot replica of
MANIERRE DAWSON'S
Daedyl
VISION TO REALITY:THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Creating a 9-foot replica of the original 45-inch Dawson sculpture required the dedication and skills of craftsmen and professionals throughout the country.
Early in 2018, Thom Hawley, West Shore’s executive director of college relations, presented the curator of Dawson’s estate, Myra Bairstow, with a proposal to create a replica of the Daedayl original housed in Florida. Long a champion of the Mason County artist, Bairstow works with galleries and museums to bring Dawson’s art and scholarship to the forefront. She was immediately intrigued by the ambitious and unique project and joined the sculpture team.
The sculpture committee grew with the addition of Beth Lauterbach, an Arizona sculpture consultant who had worked with William Anderson, chair of the Sculpture Trail Task Force, on several projects. Anderson enlisted her to research and advise on the details of the Dawson endeavor, including time estimates, cost, safety concerns, and the sculpture’s ability to withstand inclement weather.
FIRST STEPS
Lauterbach was familiar with the talents of sculptor
TysonSnow and his work on Sculpture Trail pieces
including the "MakingMemories” fountain in Rotary
Park and the Great Lakes schooner bronze in Waterfront Park. She also knew that given the fragility of the original, moving it to Snow’s Utah studio was unwise. At her suggestion, a specialist in 3D imaging traveled to Florida and for two days moved a hand scanner over every inch of the piece and created an exact image using a Styrofoam mold. A milling machine was programed with the digital information and successfully scaled the image up 240%.
BACK IN UTAH
Over the next weeks, work on the replication continued at the Baer Bronze Fine Art Foundry in Springville, Utah. When the Styrofoam mold arrived, Snow was surprised to find the piece contained no straight lines – a situation that would undoubtedly present challenges. Undaunted, he closely examined the piece and discovered an organic form with subtle curves and arcs and willingly took up the challenge.


Snow had examined high-resolution images of the original that revealed pockmarks and divots on its surface, and he developed as he worked a method to mirror that surface on a larger scale. He warmed clay and applied it over the top, bottom, sides, and every angle of the piece. He then crumpled aluminum foil into a ball and pressed it into the clay. After the clay had cooled, he used a kidney bean tool – a thin, metal, kidney- shaped tool used by ceramicists – to rake over the clay, revealing a smooth surface with the minute indentations intact, always sensitive to the tiny details of the original. The complexity of the form required that the piece be cut into 15 pieces, each of which was molded separately. The pieces were dipped one by one in wax to create molds, then put into a furnace where the wax was melted out, creating a negative space where the wax had been and molten bronze was poured. After they’d cooled, the jigsaw puzzle of bronze parts was welded together to create the finished piece.
FINISHING TOUCHES
Of prime concern was maintaining the visual integrity of the piece. Any evidence of welding was ground back, or chased, to hide the suggestion that the piece had been cast in parts.
One step remained. The original sculpture’s composite wood surface must be replicated in bronze, and Snow enlisted Utah artist Nathan Bennett to apply the patina – or final finish – to the piece. Known as the “patinor’s patinor,” Bennett used a chemical oxidation process on the bronze to duplicate the texture and color of the original sculpture.
ON SITE
As work progressed in Utah, campus architects carefully considered the sculpture’s placement in relation to existing structures. They contemplated its appearance in both daylight and after sunset and installed directional lighting to enhance the piece.
In September 2019, Daedayl was trucked from the Utah foundry to Stiles Road, where a crane placed it atop its granite base. Sculpture funding was provided by Dr. Andrew Riemer.



