Refectory Monument - Elmira, NY - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

"Two nude male figures wearing fig leaves and sandals; one is seated and one is standing. The standing figure rests his proper right hand across the shoulders of the seated figure."

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"In a 1964 newspaper article, historian Tom Byrne called artist Ernfred Anderson “Elmira’s Answer to Michelangelo.” The comparison is clear when one sees Anderson’s 19 foot tall sculpture “Builders of Men.” He created the work as part of a Federal Art Project at the Elmira Reformatory. Anderson used inmates for models and they assisted him with the casting process. The finished bronze was placed at the entrance of the Reformatory in 1951 after Anderson agreed to add fig leaves to cover the male nudes. "
"Anderson’s first job in Elmira was teaching art at School No. 11. He went on to teach drawing, sculpture and clay modeling at Elmira College. He also taught at the Elmira Reformatory and Cornell University during the course of his career. From 1942 until 1965 he served as the director of the Arnot Art Gallery where he did everything from creating exhibits and giving tours to trimming branches from trees outside the museum. The whole time he was teaching and directing he was also creating art. His work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the Chicago Swedish Club, Cornell University, the New York Art Center, the Brooklyn Museum, the National Academy, the Steele Memorial Library and the Arnot Art Museum. He was internationally known as a sculptor but he also painted, worked in stained glass, and restored and repaired artwork. "

TITLE: Refectory Monument ARTIST(S): Anderson, Ernfred DATE: 1951 MEDIUM: Bronze CONTROL NUMBER: IAS NY001980 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Elmira Refectory Elmira New York DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: The article on the Historical Museum site calls the statue "Builders of Men".

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