Artist offers to restore statue
Published: November 5, 2005
It appears that Nevada Union High School’s oft-neglected miner will get a facelift after all.
Solomon Bassoff, an artist whose works have included the restoration of a South Auburn Street apartment complex, has agreed to restore the miner’s magic, all at no cost to the Nevada Joint Union High School District.
“I was rather touched by the story, and I thought something like this should be restored,” said Bassoff, who specializes in cement structures and artwork at Faducci, his North San Juan-based business.
Bassoff read how the miner’s hands had been chopped off at least twice, and how the cement around his hat had been chipped away. The life-sized structure is also riddled with graffiti.
Bassoff said he would work to weld new steel into the miner’s hands, making the goldpan he holds nearly impossible to remove. He said he’d also like to recast some of the concrete statue and layer it with additives to protect against freezing and thawing. The hat, parts of which have been chipped away to reveal a chickenwire foundation, would be restructured and stabilized to prevent chipping. The entire statue, Bassoff said, will be coated with a sheer topping to prevent cracks and repel graffiti.
“We’re going to try to make this as bomb-proof as possible,” Bassoff joked.
Bassoff said it would take several days and little capital to refurbish the 27-year-old structure, and he plans to start as soon as the school will let him.
“Most of the work is in the skill, in sculpting the form,” he said.
Meek’s Lumber has also offered to donate materials for the work.
Nevada Union assistant principal Bruce Kinseth was more than happy to oblige Basshoff on Friday.
“I really do think this is going to work out. I’m fully expecting this to get underway,” he said. “(The miner) is at the point where if it doesn’t get care soon, it could be destroyed.”
Kinseth’s own home burned in the 1988 49er Fire and was restored with the help of strangers, so he’s not surprised that locals would step up to help fix the icon now.
Principal Marty Mathiesen, who’s never seen the miner without graffiti or his eyes gouged out, said he too looks forward to a new and improved miner.
“I think it’s neat that it means enough to people that they care about their community.”
For Bassoff, it’s a chance to give a familiar face a long-overdue makeover.
“This is something that everybody enjoys. It’s part of our environment.”
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