A Gus Shafer sculpture that was never completed will grace the space outside the gallery that bears his name in the future, said Dave Barnes, director of the Shafer Art Gallery in the Fine Arts Building at Barton Community College.
The abstract piece, “Winged Aspirations,” is far-removed from Shafer’s trademark bronzes, which feature lifelike cowboys and Old West scenes. Leonard E. “Gus” Shafer (1907 - 1985) was born on a farm southwest of Hoisington. After a career as a commercial artist he began sculpting bronzes full-time in 1968, and eventually became internationally famous. Several of his bronzes can be seen inside the gallery. His last bronze was created in 1978.
In the 1970s, Shafer produced something different — a series of abstract forms in wood and wax, as models for a monument to hope and the future. Shafer Gallery has the model for “Winged Aspirations,” created in 1974.
“It’s not what we normally expect from Shafer,” Barnes said. “Although visually different from his Western art images, these elegant wing-like abstract forms pull the viewer’s eye upwards like a finger pointing towards the sky and toward infinite possibilities. We feel it is appropriate to make material Gus Shafer’s vision as a public sculpture which will link the Barton campus grounds with the interior spaces of the Shafer Gallery and the Fine Arts Building.”
Creation of the piece will be a year-long process. The original wax model is 31 inches tall. The sculpture will be 12 feet tall on a 4- to 6-foot base.
Ellinwood metal artist Aaron McCaffery will fabricate the piece and cast it in bronze. Great Bend artist Chet Cale will work as a consultant and will make a base of limestone blocks. Carved in the base will be the words “Aspire – Perform – Inspire.”
When Barnes described the project at a BCC Board of Trustees meeting, Barton President Dr. Carl Heilman said he liked the message that the piece carries for future college students. “It resonated with me,” he said.
The finished piece will be placed outside the circle drive to the Fine Arts Building and entrance to the Shafer Gallery. The fact that it isn’t a Western piece is appropriate, since the Fine Arts Building is dedicated to all of the arts, not just Gus Shafer’s work or even just the gallery. The Fine Arts Auditorium is a venue for music, dance and theater.
“It really is a focal point for visitors to the campus,” Barnes said of the sculpture.
The Shafer Gallery has several wax models by its namesake, Barnes said. “Gus never sent them to the foundry. They literally have Gus’s fingerprints all over them.”
Board approval isn’t needed for any expenditure under $50,000.
The cost of the project is estimated at $30,000 to $35,000, but the final amount will depend on factors such as the cost of bronze at the time it is cast. “We have a donor,” Barnes said, noting money from the project won’t come from tax dollars or from money set aside for Fine Arts scholarships.
“The sculpture continues the gallery’s mission of promoting the Shafer legacy while creating an inspiring entry experience to the Fine Arts Building and Shafer Gallery,” Barnes said. “The sculpture Winged Aspirations with its allusion to flight connects the aspirations and hopes of Fine and Performing Arts students with our regional attention to the skies and the winged migrations of waterfowl. Its finger-like extension pointing towards the future functions as a concrete reminder that the goal of Barton Community College is to equip students to soar beyond their circumstances and to attain success and fulfillment beyond their present horizons.”
