An arsonist destroyed a new piece of public art at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site early Sunday, less than two weeks after its installation.
Fire consumed the life-size, 5-foot-6-inch statue around 1:30 a.m. at the presidential site. Officials said the 3D-printed artwork is a total loss.
“It was printed out of polymer that was heat and fire resistant, so apart from the vandalism that took place, otherwise would’ve been durable for the one year installation we had envisioned,” said Charlie Hyde, president and CEO of the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.
While the fire destroyed the piece in minutes, the production required more than 1,000 hours to print. Hyde said students and faculty from the Herron School of Art and Design spent over 1,200 hours creating the statue as part of a collaboration with the presidential site.
“It’s a great disappointment to have this collaboration between us, with Herron School of Art and Design, and R.B. Annis Art & Technology Legacy Collaborative destroyed just two weeks after it was installed,” Hyde said.
The statue was the first piece installed as a part of a public art project in the area. The partnership uses the presidential site’s collection of nearly 11,000 artifacts and new 3D technology to inspire public art.
Lance Pruitt, director of Herron’s Basile Center for Art, Design, and Public Life, said in a statement: “It was a labor of love representing cutting-edge application of new 3D technologies in service of public art—a new model for artistic collaboration, with an outsized and transformative impact.”
Materials for the project cost approximately $10,000, not including the labor required for its creation. Despite the damage, the presidential site plans to replace the statue.
“They have all the files, they have everything conceptualized, they know what it actually takes to put it together, but I think in our conversations, just as we look at being able to rebuilt it, we do want to attend to the durability of the material just to ensure that something similar doesn’t happen again in the future,” Hyde said.
Hyde said he hopes to have a new statue installed within a few months.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department arson unit is investigating the fire. Police have not released information regarding a suspect. Anyone with information should contact IMPD or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana.
This article was written by Melea VanOstrand for WISHTV.
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