Behind the Bronze
Samantha Kenney
Issue date: 5/5/06 Section: Features
Boyd Science Center, built in 2003, needed to be equipped for "science study and research in individual disciplines," as explained on the school's website, www.plymouth.edu, and the purchase of the statue was moved to a later date when funds became available.
"When we started gearing up for the campus campaign, it was the perfect opportunity because the people on campus would certainly be interested in a statue of Robert Frost since we have this wonderful connection," Matthews said. She continued to explain that the entirety of the bronze was purchased through fundraising and individual donations dedicated to the cause.
Besides teaching on campus, Robert Frost would return to the school about once a year to read his poetry and discuss it with those in the audience. Dr. Norton Bagley, a 1941 graduate of Plymouth Normal School and a full-time professor at the college until 1982, remembers one reading in particular.
"Once he got very upset when someone asked what 'two roads diverged in a yellow wood meant' (The Road Not Taken)," Bagley started. "He asked, 'What does it say? It means exactly what the words say. Don't read anything into it."
Frost was known for his preference of seclusion and privacy, which is probably the reason why only one statue of the poet laureate had been created before. The bust statue constructed from life was designed by Walker Hancock, a talented sculptor who worked mainly in allegorical figures and commemorative statues.
The sculptor who created Plymouth's version of Robert Frost, George Lundeen, a Colorado artist who displays work in galleries throughout the Midwest, had the opportunity to work with Hancock while making the statue.
"At the time he (Hancock) was 93 years old and I called him to have lunch," said Lundeen, with a comforting Midwestern accent. "Imagine that, flying from Colorado to have lunch. He agreed, so I flew to Boston and met with him."
While Lundeen visited the area, he also stopped at the Frost family farm in Derry, New Hampshire that is open to the public as a museum for part of the year.
"When we started gearing up for the campus campaign, it was the perfect opportunity because the people on campus would certainly be interested in a statue of Robert Frost since we have this wonderful connection," Matthews said. She continued to explain that the entirety of the bronze was purchased through fundraising and individual donations dedicated to the cause.
Besides teaching on campus, Robert Frost would return to the school about once a year to read his poetry and discuss it with those in the audience. Dr. Norton Bagley, a 1941 graduate of Plymouth Normal School and a full-time professor at the college until 1982, remembers one reading in particular.
"Once he got very upset when someone asked what 'two roads diverged in a yellow wood meant' (The Road Not Taken)," Bagley started. "He asked, 'What does it say? It means exactly what the words say. Don't read anything into it."
Frost was known for his preference of seclusion and privacy, which is probably the reason why only one statue of the poet laureate had been created before. The bust statue constructed from life was designed by Walker Hancock, a talented sculptor who worked mainly in allegorical figures and commemorative statues.
The sculptor who created Plymouth's version of Robert Frost, George Lundeen, a Colorado artist who displays work in galleries throughout the Midwest, had the opportunity to work with Hancock while making the statue.
"At the time he (Hancock) was 93 years old and I called him to have lunch," said Lundeen, with a comforting Midwestern accent. "Imagine that, flying from Colorado to have lunch. He agreed, so I flew to Boston and met with him."
While Lundeen visited the area, he also stopped at the Frost family farm in Derry, New Hampshire that is open to the public as a museum for part of the year.