The Illumination of Process: Sabin Howard’s A Soldier’s Journey
It is bitter and sweet, this moment before the Illumination Ceremony inaugurating the National WWI Memorial in Washington, DC, on September 13.
My husband sculptor Sabin Howard designed, created, and sculpted A Soldier’s Journey, the 60’ long, 10’ high, 25 ton bronze relief featuring 38 figures that is the sculptural heart of the new National WWI Memorial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whAZlsv30U4&t
My earlier Medium Online posts allude to the 9 year marathon Sabin has endured through this process. See THE SCULPTOR’S WIFE, And Concluding The Sculpting of A Soldier’s Journey and Buckle Up, Baby, the Battle Scene Begins!
Sabin and I are grateful that he had the opportunity to sculpt a national memorial. Sabin intended to bring sacred art back into public consciousness; he wanted to create Heroic art, art that manifests us rising to the occasion and that celebrates our precious common humanity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6DvsCtbr3E
At the same time, these last many years have been grueling. The design, creation, and sculpting process has required everything Sabin could give, and then some. In addition to designing the sculpture, he had to create the entire process by which a drawing could be transformed into 60’ long bronze relief in a relatively short period of time.
Now Sabin is on-site, patinating his masterpiece in the National WWI Memorial park, formerly Pershing Park. The Illumination Ceremony approaches: September 13, 2024, at sunset, Sabin Howard’s A Soldier’s Journey will be inaugurated. Senators, dignitaries, celebrities, studio people, veterans, and interested people will attend within the park; Kelsey Grammer, as one of our spokesmen, will attend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKMwgsnTq4A&t
Jumbotron screens and speakers will be set up in Freedom Plaza to allow people to view the ceremony. Alas, the seats within the park are limited! Still, Sabin and I invite everyone, especially veterans, to come to Washington, DC to participate from Freedom Plaza. The veterans’ courage and their sacrifices will be honored in Sabin’s speech.
https://x.com/SabinHoward/status/1830285805627040024
For the last few weeks, the Washington, DC sun has broiled Sabin and his assistant sculptor Charlie Mostow as they finalize the patina on the sculpture. This is it: the end of Sabin’s part in this historic project.
In between sweltering bouts of patination, Sabin has thrown himself into PR with his usual candor and enthusiasm. One thing about my amazing husband: he knows how to be entirely present in the moment. He is here, now, in conversation. It makes him an excellent interviewee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XxSUe6P4II
The inimitable Mike Rowe interviewed Sabin, as did valiant Peter McIlvenna from Heart’s of Oak. Both are lively and thoughtful interviews, fun to watch. Earlier in the summer, the extraordinarily brilliant Victor Davis Hanson spoke with Sabin. That’s also a fascinating listen.
There are myriad other podcasts, not as famous, that have been a pleasure for Sabin to do and for everyone to hear. Podcasters work hard to promulgate an excellent interview. Sabin is grateful for all of them.
And I love these podcasts because they showcase Sabin’s fiery intelligence and his multidimensional personality. Smithsonian Magazine writer Jeff MacGregor said it best: “Sabin Howard is a concert of opposites, and holds in perfect tension every imaginable trait of personality.” The long-form interview showcases Sabin as a complete person. He shines.
Therefore, here is some context around the CBS Morning segment of September 1. This was not a great piece. There was some deceptive editing. I wrote to the producer to express our disappointment.
The way the piece is presented, it looks as if talented architect Weishaar had something to do with the actual design and sculpting of A Soldier’s Journey. He did not. Weishaar had the idea to have a relief in the WWI Memorial. Brilliant idea. Sabin took that ball and ran with it. As I wrote to the producer at CBS:
Joe did the park. The commission raised the money. These are the facts.
CBS cut away from Edwin Fountain saying “The Weight of Sacrifice by Joseph Weishaar and Sabin Howard.” That’s deceptive editing. It places all the credit on Joe.
From the beginning, Sabin took the photos of the models in uniforms that he collected. He drew the designs. He took the design to New Zealand and created 3-d model after model to find the perfect depth. That was entirely his judgment. He is the one who proactively came up with every single step in the process. He is the sole person who figured out how to turn his design, his sole design, from photos and a drawing into a maquette, into a second maquette, and then into a heroic-scale sculpture. He is the one who worked every day in the studio for 4.5 years to turn HIS design and maquette into the finished relief.
We have, from the beginning, battled the “magical elves” theory of the creation and sculpting of A Soldier’s Journey. That is, certain people believe that this masterwork was magically designed, created, and sculpted by magical elves who then magically faded away upon its completion.
The people espousing this theory are the same ones who consistently treated Sabin as if he was a plumber hired to clean the gutters. Now they want to pat themselves on the back and repeat the word “collaboration,” as if they ever, for a single day, got their hands dirty, either in drawing the design or in picking up clay to sculpt a maquette or the heroic-scale sculpture.
https://x.com/SabinHoward/status/1829152938729591190
To be clear: Sabin and I greatly respect plumbers and anyone who works with their hands. Sabin works with his hands. There are just plenty of bureaucrats who care only about their own egotism.
Still, in all, and within the vagaries of the human condition, there are disappointing media pieces and there are fabulous ones. Sabin is fortunate to receive the attention. He has earned it with blood, sweat, and tears, and I’ve got all that documented for the upcoming documentary Heroic: Sabin Howard Sculpts the National WWI Memorial. Some great artists, think of Van Gogh, never get the attention. Sabin Howard is fortunate, blessed, to bring his vision to the world and receive the acclaim.
https://vimeo.com/superhumanfilm/heroicsizzle
The Illumination Ceremony is a peak moment for Sabin to celebrate, and in which to be celebrated. We will finally have a World War I Memorial in our nation’s capital. We will finally keep our promises to the Doughboys: They shall not be forgotten.
