SU Student Honors Henson With Downtown Sculpture

By Katie Crowe
Staff Writer
The Daily Times

Jack Carpenter of Carter Electric of Pittsville turns the screws on the base of the new sculpture. (Todd Dudek photo, reprinted with permission of The Daily Times)

SALISBURY, MD---The downtown area recently built upon its originality with the installation of another piece of art honoring one of the area's well-known philanthropists, thanks to help from Salisbury University and other area organizations.

The newest addition to the city's sculpture collection joins seven others added since the project started in 2001, said Nancie Booth, chair of the Urban Salisbury Sculpture Committee. Four metal sculptures were installed along Route 13 near Church Street and three more can be found on Carroll Street near Division Street.

The newest sculpture, made of a weathering steel known as COR-TEN, is sponsored by the Richard A. Henson Foundation, said Booth.

This is the first project that the foundation has done with Urban Salisbury Inc., said Donna Altvater, executive director of the Henson Foundation. The piece depicts Henson sitting in a PT-19 airplane, a design based on an award-winning photograph taken in 1941 by Hans Goenhoff.

Allan Hope, executive director of Urban Salisbury Inc. said it was a picture Henson was very proud of and one that was often autographed and distributed.

"The picture hangs in our downtown office, and we thought it was just a really fitting tribute to Henson, his career and particularly his love of aviation," Altvater said.

This sculpture and the others already installed

Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton, center, chats with artist Will Sykora, left, and Pam Olszewski of the SU Art Department during the unveiling. (Todd Dudek photo, reprinted with permission of The Daily Times)

downtown are the result of a partnership between many diverse groups in the community, said Booth. Those involved in the creation of the Henson sculpture include Salisbury University art students, the management and staff of MaTech Inc., R.D. Grier and Sons, the Salisbury Public Works Department, the Henson Foundation and volunteers with the Urban Salisbury Sculpture Committee.

Salisbury University art student Will Sykora designed the airplane image under the direction of Pamela Olszewski, said Booth. Two more sculptures--"Asclepius," by Peninsula Regional Medical Center and "Sailfish" by Bill and Judy Hearne--are scheduled to be installed downtown at a later date.

"This is something that people aren't going to see anywhere else," said Hope. "This original art is unique to the city of Salisbury and is just one of the its fabulous attributes."

Reprinted with permission of The Daily Times