Blue Collar Pegasus, 1988; laminated and carved cedar, copper; 9' h. x 12' x 11.5'; copyright James Mellick
Collection of Morris Art Museum, Augusta Georgia
Additional Pictures of the Creation of Blue Collar Pegasus
When this sculpture was first commissioned, it was to hang in a seven story atrium space of the Cincinnatian Hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio but the plan failed with the Stock Market crash in the late 1980's. Through a series of events it never made it to the intended site and it was acquired by Dr. Gary Mellick who planned to donate the sculpture to the new wing of the Children's Hospital at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. Politics and the egos of certain architects torpedoed this agreed donation which would have been wonderful for the children that the hospital intended to serve. For several years the Stevens Creek Community Church, progressive about showing art in the church, gladly accepted the donation. The Morris Art Museum in Augusta is adding an equine wing to the museum and is acquiring the sculpture from the Stevens Creek Community Church, as a center piece for the new display. I am grateful that the flying draft horse has landed where it will be enjoyed by all the people of Augusta.
I am drawn to the power and majesty of the Belgian draft horse. As a child at the fairs I remember standing next to the muscular power of these giants. I remember that the ties used to dress the mane for shows reminded me of birds standing on the neck, so in this case I created the mane with a family of white doves. Originally this piece was fixed to be suspended from the ceiling and the blue grid was an abstraction of wings. It is about a "working class" horse that had aspirations of becoming something more. Some of my earliest memories is the team of horses on my Grandfather's farm near Mansfield, Ohio.