New Sculpture Planned For Lincoln Library and Museum

Above, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the highlights of my 2016 trip into the midwest U.S. was a visit to Springfield, Illinois. I was in Springfield on Election Day and watched the election night coverage in a RV park there.

Springfield was the home of President Abraham Lincoln and where he is now buried. It is also home to the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum.

Above, the Lincoln family greets visitors in the museum's main lobby. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A new sculpture is planned, titled "Beacon of Endurance".

According to the Journal Star:

Abraham Lincoln was a master at using words to motivate and inspire. 

Now his words will be part of a new sculpture honoring the 16th president at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum announced Wednesday, Lincoln’s 211th birthday. 

An advisory panel will help the presidential library and the sculptor decide which words the sculpture will include. The public also will have a chance to share ideas through social media, according to ALPLM officials. 

“Beacon of Endurance” was designed by B.J. Krivanek of the Chicago firm Krivanek+Breaux/Art+Design. When completed, the obelisk will stand at the museum’s southeast corner, at the intersection of Jefferson and Seventh streets. The sculpture is 24 feet, 10 inches tall and slightly tilted “to suggest human and constitutional traumas and vulnerabilities,” Krivanek said, in a press release. 

The bottom, where Lincoln quotes will be inscribed, will weather and rust over time. 

Above that, in impervious stainless steel, will be individual words about Lincoln’s character and principles.

To read more, go here.