By Felipe Espericueta
Numerous pieces of art have had an impact on the world. To name just a few: Michelangelo’s Pieta, Mount Rushmore, and the Vietnam Memorial Wall. A new piece of art will be arriving on campus very soon to make an impact on the world of TPA.
Every senior class at TPA strives to leave a lasting impression on the student body. The Class of 2011 decided to leave behind a work of art, which no other class had resolved to do before. Students and parents involved turned to Bill Tonnesen, a local artist and parent of students attending TPA, for the arduous task of designing and constructing a work of art to be the gift from the senior class.
Deciding on the subject of the work was no easy task. Thankfully, Mr. Tonnesen was well prepared from past experience. Among his many talents, he is a skilled sculptor. Mr. Tonnesen has created numerous figures that are in his own words, “Provocative, somewhat controversial, and in some cases intended to animate a landscape.” In this case, though, the work is not controversial. As Mr. Tonnesen put it, it is a “General on a Horse.” No guessing needed.
The students and parents discussed what the subject of the piece would be — whether it should be a reference to the sports at TPA or to the academics. They eventually decided that the statue should be composed of two figures: a knight and a scholar clothed in graduate garb, back-to-back.
The completed statue stands over six feet tall and weighs more than a ton. It rests on a quarter-inch steel base with its figures heavily reinforced with steel. To fashion the figures, Mr. Tonnesen cast a volunteer’s body in silicone rubber, put a plaster mold over the silicone rubber, and added resins and epoxies to reinforce the molding.
Other compounds, bleach, and constant heat aided in speeding up the oxidation process that produced the rusty look of the piece. A water jet cut the letters on the side of the steel base and a rapid prototype machine cut the insignia of TPA. An interesting fact about the work is that the knight’s sword is a cast of a replica of the sword of El Cid Campeador, a military leader and Castilian nobleman of the 11th Century.
Mr. Tonnesen expects that the student body will love this piece of art and he challenges them to commemorate it as best as they are able. He also hopes the Class of 2011 will return to the statue’s site to visit their gift. The statue will be installed once the construction project has reached completion.