(excerpts of an email exchange with Ryan 10/5/16)
Ryan,
Here is an email that I had previously sent to Tim back in 2014 regarding the placement of at Dr. J statue at the Mullins Center.
I sure that you are familiar with the UMassHoops on-line forum. There are many grassroots supporters of this initiative that I’m sure would love to contribute to this effort if some guidance is provided.
A thread that discusses this very topic and support is located here,
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9831&start=165
Recently, there was an article published by MassLive that touched upon the topic with Dr. J’s response. I’ve included it below for your reference.
http://www.masslive.com/umassbasketball ... ore_sports
Quotes
“Q: I know some fans would like to see you and your accomplishments at UMass recognized more prominently on campus, perhaps with a statue. Is that something that would interest you one day?
Dr. J: It would. It would be a legacy play in terms of the family.”
“So if there was a special recognition on campus, I would be very proud of it. Because I do speak in very proud fashion about the school, the programs, the academics and the beauty of the campus from an aesthetics standpoint.”
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XXXX,
Thanks for your email and for your suggestion. Will take it under full consideration and speak to campus leadership to determine interest and funding sources – generally crowdsourcing isn’t well-received from a PR or giving perspective.
Appreciate your support of UMass Athletics.
All the best,
Ryan
Ryan Bamford
Director of Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Phone: 413.545.9652
Twitter: @UMassADBamford
**************************************************************
Here is the quote for a bronze Julius Erving that we discussed the other night. I quoted him in several different sizes so that if the school wants to go bigger, they will know what it would cost. Here is the breakdown:
Bronze Julius Erving (Dr. J)
6ft Standing Dr J - Mould Creation - $7,000.00, Casting & Patina - $16,500.00: Total - $23,500.00
7ft Standing Dr J - Mould Creation - $9,000.00, Casting & Patina - $20,500.00: Total - $29,500.00
10ft Standing Dr J - Mould Creation - $15,000.00, Casting & Patina - $38,000.00: Total - $53,000.00
To create this custom sculpture, we would need several photos of the face for him that you want for the sculpture and shots of him in your school uniform from back in the day. As much visual information as possible and a pose that you would like as we priced this design as a standing gentleman and you could do a basketball in both hands in front for a design idea but can make him however you and the school choose.
Custom bronze sculptures require a 30%, non-refundable deposit for our artist to start creating the mould out of wax. We deal with only “Lost Wax” castings with our bronze sculptures. When our artist creates the mould, we will send you photos of all angles for you and the school to approve or revise. You get as many revisions as needed to have him made to your liking but the more information you hand us for our artist, the less revisions there will be. As our items are hand-made, revisions take time just like creating the mould as completely hand-made.
Once the wax mould is approved, a second deposit is required for us to proceed with prepping the mould for bronze pouring. After the piece is casted, we will patina (coloring) your sculpture to any color you choose. After the piece is casted, we will have it wrapped and consolidated with our current creations at the time of completion in a tractor trailer and ship it direct to our Newark Delaware warehouse.
After the piece arrives to our location, we will crate and prep the sculpture for safe shipping through one of several LTL truck freight carriers fully insured. Once you receive the sculpture, final payment is to be sent to us within 10 business days after the trucking company delivers the sculpture to you.
Quote:
January 22, 2014
University of Massachusetts
Attn: xxxxxxxx
Massachusetts Avenue
Amherst, MA 01003
Dear University of Massachusetts :
This letter is a resume of how we do our custom bronze sculptures for your reference as well as a few people we have done custom art creation for. This is a general idea of how the handmade, lost wax cast bronze process goes as well as a list of references for school mascot projects as well as custom bronze sculptures we have done for other clients.
CUSTOM BRONZE CASTING PROCESS
1. Initial Procedures
A. Come up with size needed of sculpture or sculptures and all of the details for design. The more visual information, the better..
B. We can make any help with design and anything else to help aid your decision.
C. Receive a 30% non-refundable deposit to make the model.
2. Model Design
A. Give all information to our sculptor to create the sculpture(s) actual size out of a block of wax.
B. When using the wax design, you can add a lot of details to the artwork.
C. You are entitled to as many revisions as it takes to get the piece or pieces to your liking at no extra charge.
D. Once the wax positive is completed we will move forth with the next phase.
3. Casting
A. Receive 30% deposit for next step.
B. Create a ceramic mould of the wax positive to prepare for bronze casting.
C. Cast the sculpture(s) in bronze.
D. Assemble and patina the sculpture(s) to the coloring requested.
E. Ship this to our warehouse for inspection then ship to your location.
F. After receipt of the artwork, please send final payment to us.
CUSTOM SCULPTURE RESUME
My company has done a large amount of custom bronze sculptures for many schools, universities, government organizations, fine art collectors and businesses around the world.
1. Giant Bronze Galapagos Turtle – Delaware History Museum
2. Life Size Bronze Ronald Reagan – 2004 – This piece was done by us for the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan in the Captain’s Office on the ship.
3. Bronze Griffon – 2005 – Missouri Western State University
4. Bronze 6ft Herky Mascot – 2005- Former Student/Private Collector
5. Bronze 9ft Fireman – 2009 – Purchased by private collector for donation to local firehouse.
6. Bronze Leaping Tiger – 2012 – Towson University, Towson Maryland
7. Life Size Suspended Lady – 2012 in the showroom of Painful Pleasures in Maryland
8. Large Bronze Bull Dog – 2012 – Eustace High School, Eustace Texas
9. Giant Bronze Bull – 2012 – University of South Florida, St. Petersburg Campus
10. Bronze 89” Tall Roman Soldier – 2013 – South Paulding High School, Douglassville Georgia
11. Medium Size Rearing Horse – 2013 – Sahuarita Unified School District
12. Bronze Giant Sea Turtle – 2012 – Abilene Zoo, Abilene Texas
13. Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill Busts – 2013 – Bush Presidential Library
14. Life Size Bronze Texas Longhorn – 2013 – Dr Earl J Lennard High School, Ruskin, Florida
15. Giant Bronze “Lady of Grace” – September 2013 completion – Benedictine College (Sue Durkin)
16. 15ft Bronze Hand – Delivery to customer February 2014 – Private Collector
17. Custom Robert Morris on bench – Casted and will be delivered Feb 2014 – Robert Morris University (Amanda Musser)
18. And many others.
We offer all schools, universities, organizations wholesale pricing for custom items and we add no artist ego in our pricing as we are a business besides being designers as well as artists. Upon completion, the sculpture will arrive LTL freight through a major carrier like UPS Freight or Estes to where they will bring the piece (take off of the truck only) and you are responsible for uncrating and installation as we do not offer this service. You can see by our website,
www.bigbronze.com or
www.allclassics.com that we can create anything for a fantastic price, for a fantastic price with top quality materials.
Please contact me with any questions you may have as I am here to help.
Sincerely,
Jason M Spohn
Manager/Designer
(302) 738-2190
www.allclassics.com
www.bigbronze.comSave your breath... you'll need it to blow up your date
