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This proposed statue of Thomas Edison, rendered in painted wax and called a maquette, is by Emanuel Enriquez of Bowling Green.
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2 local sculptors are among 3 finalists for sculpture of Edison to sit in U.S. Capitol

2 local sculptors are among 3 finalists for sculpture of Edison to sit in U.S. Capitol

Three sculptors, including two local men, await word as to whether their vision of Thomas Edison will be selected for casting into a bronze statue and installed in the U.S. Capitol.

Tom Lingeman, a University of Toledo art professor; Emanuel Enriquez, a retired Chrysler employee who lives in Bowling Green, and Alan Cottrill of Zanesville presented models of their plans Monday to the National Statuary Collection Study Committee in Columbus. They’d previously submitted their concept, timetable, credentials, and budget.

“Edison is a big topic for sculpture and for biography,” said Lingeman, who lives in Perrysburg. He’s taught sculpture, design, and drawing at UT since 1979, and his bronze statue of four-time Ohio Gov. James Rhodes stands just outside One Government Center.

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A decision is expected to be made Dec. 22 when committee members will vote telephonically for their choice, said Mark Wagoner of Ottawa Hills, who’s worked on the project since 2005.

Lingeman, like his competitors, read extensively about and was deeply impressed by Edison, whose technically imaginative brain, high energy level, and entrepreneurial streak resulted in more than 1,000 patents and numerous inventions such as the phonograph and motion-picture camera. He didn’t invent the lightbulb but with his staff tested hundreds of filament materials before determining the most practical and longest lasting. His team also devised the many parts of a light-distribution system.

Lingeman portrays Edison in his 30s or 40s, with a lightbulb in one hand and the bulb’s patent (which he’d purchased), in the other.

Enriquez might be best known for his playful piece just outside Fifth Third Field. Who’s Up?, beyond right field on the North Superior Street sidewalk, has four life-sized kids peeking through a “knothole” in the wall to watch the game.

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Retired in 1997 after 30 years at Chrysler’s Toledo Machining Plant in Perrysburg Township, Enriquez decided on a middle-aged Edison with a phonograph.

“That’s Mr. Edison’s invention, and I think communications are more important today [than some of his other inventions],” he said.

Cottrill works in his 17,000-square-foot facility where he stores 400 bronze sculptures.

“My approach is his extreme passion. Thomas Alva Edison was one intense son of a gun. He had a mind and energy,” Cottrill said. “I tried to harness that and refine that into this gesture that still has energy but with some restraint.”

Inspired by a particular photograph of Edison, Cottrill’s rendition has a hint of a smile, one hand in his pants pocket, and the right arm reaching out with a light bulb, “as if he’s enlightening the world. The gesture reminded me of the Statue of Liberty,” he said.

The winning statue will be placed in the National Statuary Hall, a domed two-story, semi-circular room in the U.S. Capitol Building that has marble columns and floors. From 1807 to 1857 it was the meeting place for members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Each state may display two statues, and may change them by legislative act as several states have done in recent years, said Wagoner, who was in the state senate and house from 2005 to 2012.

Since the 1880s, Ohio’s subjects have been William Allen and President James Garfield, who served a mere 200 days in 1881 after languishing for 80 days from an assassin’s bullet.

Allen, from Chillicothe, had been governor, U.S. representative, and senator, between 1833 and 1876. He did not, however, weather the test of time well.

In 2006, the state legislature voted to “bring Allen home” after an editorial in the Columbus Dispatch newspaper pointed out his pro-slavery views.

In 2010, Ohioans voted Thomas Edison, who lived his first seven years in Milan, as their choice to replace Allen, among 10 contenders that included the Wright Brothers, Olympic runner Jesse Owens, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Following the committee’s Dec. 22 vote for their favorite Edison, approval of the design will be sought from the architect of the U.S. Capitol. Then, donations will be solicited to cast and install the bronze piece. Wagoner said costs haven’t been finalized, but said it will probably be less than initial estimates of $800,000. About $40,000 has been raised so far.

Target date for installation in the Capitol is October, he said, adding that Allen will be returned to Ohio about the same time.

Contact Tahree Lane at tlane@theblade.com or 419-724-6075.

First Published December 14, 2014, 5:00 a.m.

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This proposed statue of Thomas Edison, rendered in painted wax and called a maquette, is by Emanuel Enriquez of Bowling Green.
UT art professor Tom Lingeman’s model, in oil clay, of the Thomas Edison statue for the National Statuary Hall.
A model of a statue of Thomas Edison by Alan Cottrill of Zanesville.
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